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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 116 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: bear · race · mate · straw · tear · rule · cold · rush

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. rule — a law
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. bear — the animal
  6. race — humankind
  7. mate — a friend
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. mate — to breed
  10. race — a contest
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. tear — from crying
  14. race — the arms race
  15. cold — an illness
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — to rip
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. cold — not warm
  21. rush — hurry
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. bear — the animal
  24. rule — government

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