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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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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: tear · row · season · last · race · rash · content · cell

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. rash — hasty
  3. content — the amount
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. tear — from crying
  6. last — to go on
  7. race — a contest
  8. last — finally
  9. season — in sport
  10. content — happy
  11. cell — a phone
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. row — to paddle
  15. tear — to rip
  16. row — a line
  17. race — humankind
  18. race — the arms race
  19. last — final
  20. rash — a series
  21. cell — in biology
  22. season — of the year
  23. rash — on the skin
  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