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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: cabinet · land · race · kid · rush · branch · ground · coach

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. rush — hurry
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. race — the arms race
  5. land — to come down
  6. kid — to tease
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. land — ground
  11. land — a country
  12. branch — a division
  13. kid — child
  14. race — humankind
  15. ground — a position
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. ground — the earth
  19. race — a contest
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. branch — of a bank

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