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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. band — a music group
  3. snap — to click
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. band — a ring
  6. staff — employees
  7. wind — moving air
  8. kid — to tease
  9. prune — to trim
  10. drill — the tool
  11. race — the arms race
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. staff — a stick
  14. race — a contest
  15. staff — employees
  16. drill — a practice
  17. prune — to trim
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. kid — child
  20. drill — army training
  21. wind — moving air
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. race — humankind

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