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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: race · spring · straw · date · patient · kid · mine · toast

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. race — the arms race
  3. kid — to tease
  4. mine — for digging
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. toast — bread
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. spring — the season
  14. spring — a coil
  15. date — the fruit
  16. kid — child
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. race — humankind
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. spring — of water
  22. race — a contest
  23. toast — the most admired
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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