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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: squash · sharp · mine · foot · date · bass · tear · race

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. race — a contest
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. race — humankind
  6. bass — low music
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. tear — to rip
  9. tear — from crying
  10. squash — the sport
  11. date — the fruit
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. bass — the fish
  14. race — the arms race
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. tear — from crying
  17. mine — for digging
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. squash — to crush
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. foot — a measure
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. mine — an explosive

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