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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: date · chair · pound · prune · race · chip

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. chip — to eat
  4. prune — to trim
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. race — humankind
  8. race — a contest
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. prune — to trim
  11. chair — a leader
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. date — the fruit
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. chip — for betting
  16. race — the arms race
  17. pound — a weight
  18. chip — in a computer

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