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

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. scale — in music
  5. bat — the animal
  6. kid — child
  7. race — the arms race
  8. scale — size or range
  9. date — the fruit
  10. shower — rain
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. pound — a weight
  14. race — a contest
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. shower — to wash
  21. kid — to tease
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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