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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: tear · race · wake · cue · wound · bark · straw · wind

  1. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — for pool
  2. race — a contest
  3. race — humankind
  4. cue — a hint
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wound — an injury
  8. tear — from crying
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. race — the arms race
  11. cue — a signal
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. tear — to rip
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. wound — an injury
  16. bark — to shout
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. wake — a trail
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. tear — from crying
  24. wake — before a funeral

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