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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: bat · wound · stem · race · object · bear · present · last

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. race — the arms race
  3. bear — the animal
  4. last — to go on
  5. object — to protest
  6. wound — an injury
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. race — a contest
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. present — there
  12. wound — an injury
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. bear — the animal
  15. last — final
  16. object — an aim
  17. race — humankind
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. object — a thing
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. present — a gift
  23. present — the time now
  24. stem — to come from

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