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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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Word bank
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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: race · can · file · date · pitcher · board · drill · hand

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. can — a tin
  4. race — a contest
  5. board — to get on
  6. file — a tool
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. can — to be able to
  12. board — a committee
  13. hand — in cards
  14. drill — a practice
  15. race — humankind
  16. hand — help
  17. drill — the tool
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. drill — army training
  20. race — the arms race
  21. can — a tin
  22. file — a line of people
  23. date — the fruit
  24. file — a document

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