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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. sharp — clever
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. last — finally
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. pound — a weight
  7. race — humankind
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. race — a contest
  10. shower — to wash
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. last — final
  17. shower — rain
  18. last — to go on
  19. race — the arms race
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. branch — a division

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