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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: race · drill · safe · track · hand · tear · content · bark

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. track — a song
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. race — humankind
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. race — a contest
  8. content — the amount
  9. track — to keep track
  10. hand — help
  11. drill — a practice
  12. track — a path
  13. hand — in cards
  14. drill — the tool
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. bark — to shout
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — to rip
  19. safe — a strongbox
  20. drill — army training
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. tear — from crying
  23. race — the arms race
  24. bark — of a tree

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