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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: kid · game · rest · content · scale · staff · wind · race

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. race — humankind
  3. wind — moving air
  4. staff — a stick
  5. race — the arms race
  6. race — a contest
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. scale — size or range
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. game — wild animals
  11. kid — child
  12. rest — what's left
  13. staff — employees
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. wind — moving air
  16. scale — in music
  17. game — a match
  18. kid — to tease
  19. rest — what's left
  20. content — the amount
  21. content — happy
  22. staff — employees
  23. rest — a break
  24. content — videos and posts

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