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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. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. date — the fruit
  5. mug — a face
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. race — humankind
  8. band — a music group
  9. race — a contest
  10. mug — a cup
  11. band — a ring
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. pound — a weight
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. kid — child
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. kid — to tease
  23. mug — to rob
  24. mine — for digging

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