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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: bat · tube · chair · race · tear · firm · lash · sharp

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tube — the underground
  4. firm — steady
  5. firm — decided
  6. firm — a company
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. race — the arms race
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. sharp — clever
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. race — humankind
  17. tube — a container
  18. chair — a leader
  19. bat — the animal
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. race — a contest
  23. tear — to rip
  24. lash — an eyelash

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