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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 116 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: coach · tear · race · bowl · plane · wind · sharp · can

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. race — humankind
  3. race — a contest
  4. tear — to rip
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. wind — moving air
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. sharp — clever
  14. race — the arms race
  15. can — a tin
  16. can — to be able to
  17. wind — moving air
  18. tear — from crying
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. plane — a tool
  21. tear — from crying
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. can — a tin
  24. plane — an aircraft

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