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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: date · content · wake · race · club · wind

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. 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. race — a contest
  2. club — for dancing
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. wake — a trail
  6. race — humankind
  7. wind — moving air
  8. club — a group
  9. club — for golf
  10. wind — moving air
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. date — the fruit
  13. content — the amount
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. content — happy
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. 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