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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 met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. bass — the fish
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. race — the arms race
  8. plane — a tool
  9. file — a tool
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. kid — child
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. race — a contest
  14. file — a line of people
  15. bass — low music
  16. rush — hurry
  17. file — a document
  18. pound — a weight
  19. mine — for digging
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. kid — to tease
  22. race — humankind
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. mine — an explosive

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