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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: pit · race · bat · mate · snap · tear

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. tear — from crying
  4. mate — a partner
  5. tear — to rip
  6. mate — a friend
  7. race — the arms race
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. mate — to breed
  12. tear — from crying
  13. race — humankind
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. pit — in a race
  16. race — a contest
  17. snap — to click
  18. bat — the animal

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