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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: tear · roll · pop · chair · race · toast

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. chair — a leader
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. roll — a cake
  7. tear — to rip
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. pop — soda
  10. tear — from crying
  11. race — a contest
  12. race — the arms race
  13. pop — to visit
  14. toast — bread
  15. race — humankind
  16. pop — music
  17. roll — a list
  18. roll — on a roll

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