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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: straw · drill · suit · mine · race · shower · chip · tear

  1. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. When will it ________________ you to start?
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. chip — to eat
  3. drill — army training
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. race — humankind
  6. tear — from crying
  7. suit — to fit
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. shower — rain
  10. drill — a practice
  11. shower — to wash
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. tear — to rip
  16. suit — clothes
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. suit — in cards
  19. race — a contest
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. race — the arms race
  22. tear — from crying
  23. chip — for betting
  24. mine — for digging

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