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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 120 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: kick · pop · prune · race · scale · band · kid · tube

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  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. race — a contest
  2. band — a music group
  3. pop — music
  4. kid — child
  5. race — humankind
  6. race — the arms race
  7. pop — to visit
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. scale — size or range
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. tube — the underground
  12. prune — to trim
  13. pop — soda
  14. kid — to tease
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. scale — in music
  18. tube — a container
  19. kick — in football
  20. prune — to trim
  21. band — a ring
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. band — a rubber band
  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