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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. kid — child
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. race — a contest
  5. kid — to tease
  6. bank — for money
  7. field — farmland
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. cue — a signal
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. race — humankind
  13. mine — for digging
  14. cue — for pool
  15. ball — a great time
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. field — for sport
  18. bank — of a river
  19. bank — for money
  20. ball — a dance
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. field — a subject
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. race — the arms race

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