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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: march · tear · race · snap · board · kid

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. snap — to click
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. board — to get on
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. kid — to tease
  7. tear — from crying
  8. race — humankind
  9. board — a committee
  10. race — the arms race
  11. march — the month
  12. tear — from crying
  13. march — the month
  14. tear — to rip
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. march — music
  17. race — a contest
  18. kid — child

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com