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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: last · race · bore · tear · scale · cold · press · racket

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. bore — to tire
  4. race — the arms race
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. tear — to rip
  8. scale — in music
  9. press — to push
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. tear — from crying
  12. last — finally
  13. scale — size or range
  14. press — newspapers
  15. race — a contest
  16. bore — to drill
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — not warm
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. last — final
  22. last — to go on
  23. press — a publisher
  24. tear — from crying

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