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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: mine · kid · deal · rush · race · file · lean · bowl

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. kid — to tease
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. race — humankind
  8. rush — hurry
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. race — a contest
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. file — a document
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. lean — thin
  15. file — a line of people
  16. file — a tool
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. race — the arms race
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. deal — to handle
  22. kid — child
  23. mine — for digging
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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