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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: racket · content · nail · clip · cap · race · file · date

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. race — the arms race
  5. file — a tool
  6. clip — for paper
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. date — the fruit
  9. cap — a lid
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. clip — a video
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. clip — to cut
  15. content — happy
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. cap — a hat
  19. race — humankind
  20. file — a document
  21. content — the amount
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. cap — of ice
  24. file — a line of people

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