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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: patient · cap · bat · race · toast · tear · spell · straw

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. race — the arms race
  3. spell — magic
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. cap — a lid
  7. race — a contest
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. spell — a short time
  11. toast — bread
  12. cap — a hat
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tear — from crying
  15. toast — a drink to someone
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. spell — letters
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. tear — to rip
  21. bat — the animal
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. race — humankind

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