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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 · bulb · deal · date · race · content · club · cell

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. mine — for digging
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. content — happy
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. cell — in biology
  9. date — the fruit
  10. club — for golf
  11. cell — a phone
  12. race — a contest
  13. club — for dancing
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. deal — to handle
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. race — humankind
  19. bulb — for light
  20. race — the arms race
  21. club — a group
  22. bulb — for light
  23. content — the amount
  24. date — on the calendar

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