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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: land · foot · last · pitcher · race · kid · wound · mate

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. wound — an injury
  4. race — humankind
  5. land — to come down
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. mate — to breed
  8. last — finally
  9. mate — a partner
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. land — ground
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. foot — a measure
  15. kid — to tease
  16. race — the arms race
  17. wound — an injury
  18. last — final
  19. land — a country
  20. mate — a friend
  21. race — a contest
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. kid — child

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