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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: bowl · ground · drill · race · pop · date · chest · clip

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. race — a contest
  3. race — the arms race
  4. clip — for paper
  5. pop — soda
  6. drill — the tool
  7. clip — a video
  8. drill — a practice
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. ground — the earth
  12. drill — army training
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. date — the fruit
  15. ground — a position
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. chest — a box
  18. chest — of your body
  19. clip — to cut
  20. pop — music
  21. pop — to visit
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. chest — of your body
  24. ground — crushed

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