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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 120 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: kid · race · mouse · mine · cell · prune

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. prune — to trim
  3. kid — child
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. cell — a phone
  6. kid — to tease
  7. prune — to trim
  8. race — the arms race
  9. cell — in biology
  10. mine — for digging
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. race — a contest

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