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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: chair · bore · capital · saw · squash · tear · race · wake

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. capital — money
  6. saw — the tool
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. race — the arms race
  11. tear — from crying
  12. bore — to drill
  13. race — a contest
  14. squash — to crush
  15. capital — a city
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. squash — the sport
  18. chair — a leader
  19. tear — to rip
  20. race — humankind
  21. tear — from crying
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. wake — a trail
  24. bore — to tire

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