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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: scale · tear · hand · content · board · kid · toast · race

  1. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. kid — to tease
  3. tear — from crying
  4. tear — to rip
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. race — a contest
  7. race — humankind
  8. toast — the most admired
  9. board — a committee
  10. board — to get on
  11. hand — help
  12. toast — bread
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. content — the amount
  15. kid — child
  16. hand — in cards
  17. tear — from crying
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. race — the arms race
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. scale — in music
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. content — happy

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