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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: date · present · tear · cold · race · hide

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. present — the time now
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. race — humankind
  6. cold — an illness
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. race — a contest
  9. present — a gift
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. present — there
  12. cold — not warm
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. tear — to rip
  15. tear — from crying
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. date — the fruit
  18. race — the arms race

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