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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: bark · drill · race · pitcher · chest · cue · lean · tear

  1. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. race — the arms race
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. lean — thin
  5. cue — a hint
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. lean — to bend
  8. chest — a box
  9. chest — of your body
  10. tear — to rip
  11. drill — the tool
  12. drill — army training
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. cue — for pool
  15. bark — to shout
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. tear — from crying
  18. race — humankind
  19. drill — a practice
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. chest — of your body
  23. tear — from crying
  24. race — a contest

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