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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: rash · mark · wake · wound · race · kid · tear · net

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. mark — a grade
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. tear — from crying
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. rash — hasty
  7. race — humankind
  8. net — for catching
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. race — the arms race
  12. race — a contest
  13. tear — from crying
  14. kid — child
  15. wound — an injury
  16. rash — a series
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. net — in sport
  19. net — after costs
  20. mark — a trace
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. wake — a trail
  23. tear — to rip
  24. wound — an injury

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