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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. prune — to trim
  3. kid — to tease
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. race — a contest
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. pound — a weight
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. race — the arms race
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. kid — child
  15. prune — to trim
  16. chest — a box
  17. bat — the animal
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. chest — of your body
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. chest — of your body

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