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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: date · race · tube · ground · mouse · patient · wind · prune

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. ground — a position
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. race — humankind
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. prune — to trim
  9. ground — the earth
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. tube — the underground
  15. wind — moving air
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. prune — to trim
  18. date — the fruit
  19. wind — moving air
  20. race — the arms race
  21. tube — a container
  22. ground — crushed
  23. race — a contest
  24. patient — a sick person

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