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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: march · tear · toast · bulb · wound · ball · race · racket

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. bulb — for light
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. wound — an injury
  5. march — the month
  6. ball — a great time
  7. wound — an injury
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. race — the arms race
  10. ball — a dance
  11. tear — from crying
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. bulb — for light
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. tear — from crying
  18. race — humankind
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. march — music
  22. march — the month
  23. tear — to rip
  24. race — a contest

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