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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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Word bank
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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: mate · tear · season · cold · race · bat · roll · fine

  1. We're on a ________________ here.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — on a roll
  2. cold — an illness
  3. tear — to rip
  4. tear — from crying
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. race — humankind
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. roll — a cake
  9. mate — a friend
  10. fine — high quality
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. season — in sport
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. mate — to breed
  16. bat — the animal
  17. race — the arms race
  18. tear — from crying
  19. cold — not warm
  20. fine — all right
  21. mate — a partner
  22. season — of the year
  23. roll — a list
  24. race — a contest

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