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

Word bank: kid · date · pound · file · race · club

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. date — the fruit
  4. race — humankind
  5. club — for dancing
  6. pound — a weight
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. race — a contest
  9. file — a tool
  10. file — a document
  11. race — the arms race
  12. club — for golf
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. kid — child
  15. kid — to tease
  16. file — a line of people
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. date — on the calendar

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