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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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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: last · chest · season · race · vault · sharp · game · tear

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. vault — an arched ceiling
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. race — a contest
  5. season — of the year
  6. game — a match
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. tear — from crying
  9. race — the arms race
  10. chest — a box
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. chest — of your body
  13. last — final
  14. game — wild animals
  15. tear — to rip
  16. chest — of your body
  17. season — in sport
  18. last — to go on
  19. vault — a safe
  20. race — humankind
  21. sharp — clever
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. last — finally

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