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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. club — a group
  3. content — happy
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. wind — moving air
  7. race — a contest
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. race — humankind
  12. wind — moving air
  13. file — a document
  14. club — for golf
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. file — a tool
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. file — a line of people
  19. kick — in football
  20. rush — hurry
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. content — the amount
  23. race — the arms race
  24. club — for dancing

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