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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 120 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: pit · ground · tear · wind · rock · lean · bound · race

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. race — a contest
  3. pit — a hole
  4. lean — thin
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. bound — obliged
  7. wind — moving air
  8. race — humankind
  9. tear — from crying
  10. wind — moving air
  11. pit — in a race
  12. rock — a stone
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. tear — to rip
  16. bound — certain
  17. race — the arms race
  18. rock — music
  19. ground — the earth
  20. bound — tied together
  21. ground — crushed
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. tear — from crying
  24. ground — a position

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