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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: game · ball · straw · dip · kid · band · race · pass

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. band — a music group
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. race — the arms race
  5. game — a match
  6. race — a contest
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. pass — a permit
  9. race — humankind
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. band — a ring
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. dip — to sink
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. pass — to succeed
  21. ball — a great time
  22. game — wild animals
  23. kid — to tease
  24. ball — a dance

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