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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 116 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: rest · hand · race · cap · pound · fall · game · mate

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. cap — of ice
  3. rest — a break
  4. cap — a lid
  5. fall — to drop
  6. mate — a friend
  7. race — a contest
  8. mate — to breed
  9. cap — a hat
  10. rest — what's left
  11. pound — a weight
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. mate — a partner
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. game — a match
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. race — humankind
  19. fall — to drop
  20. hand — help
  21. hand — in cards
  22. race — the arms race
  23. fall — the season
  24. game — wild animals

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