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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: land · race · arm · date · wound · bay · tear · deal

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. tear — to rip
  4. wound — an injury
  5. land — ground
  6. race — humankind
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. land — a country
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. wound — an injury
  17. date — the fruit
  18. tear — from crying
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. deal — to handle
  22. land — to come down
  23. race — a contest
  24. race — the arms race

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