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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 · patient · stock · trunk · last · race · court · deal

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. tear — from crying
  4. race — humankind
  5. deal — to handle
  6. court — of law
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. last — finally
  10. court — of a king
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. race — the arms race
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. stock — goods
  15. last — final
  16. stock — shares
  17. race — a contest
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. court — for sport
  23. tear — from crying
  24. last — to go on

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