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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 124 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: lean · fine · tear · land · race · wind

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. lean — thin
  3. lean — to bend
  4. race — the arms race
  5. tear — from crying
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. tear — to rip
  8. land — ground
  9. tear — from crying
  10. wind — moving air
  11. fine — high quality
  12. fine — all right
  13. race — a contest
  14. land — a country
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. race — humankind
  18. wind — moving air

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