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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: bat · tear · cap · kid · rash · stick · prune · race

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. race — the arms race
  3. tear — from crying
  4. prune — to trim
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. cap — a lid
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. bat — the animal
  12. race — a contest
  13. prune — to trim
  14. tear — to rip
  15. cap — of ice
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. kid — child
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. race — humankind
  21. kid — to tease
  22. rash — hasty
  23. rash — a series
  24. tear — from crying

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