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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: bass · rash · race · ball · hand · bulb · squash · date

  1. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. race — humankind
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. bass — low music
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. race — the arms race
  7. rash — hasty
  8. hand — help
  9. race — a contest
  10. bass — the fish
  11. date — the fruit
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. ball — a dance
  14. ball — a great time
  15. bulb — for light
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. rash — a series
  20. squash — to crush
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. hand — in cards
  23. squash — the sport
  24. date — on the calendar

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