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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: tear · mouse · file · wave · race · prune · wind · straw

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. tear — to rip
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. race — humankind
  6. file — a line of people
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. prune — to trim
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. race — the arms race
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. tear — from crying
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. file — a tool
  18. prune — to trim
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. wind — moving air
  22. file — a document
  23. race — a contest
  24. wind — moving air

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