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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 116 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: file · fine · pound · prune · mine · race · content · chair

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  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. content — the amount
  2. race — the arms race
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. pound — a weight
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. content — happy
  7. fine — all right
  8. fine — high quality
  9. mine — for digging
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. prune — to trim
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. race — a contest
  14. race — humankind
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. prune — to trim
  18. file — a document
  19. chair — a leader
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. file — a tool
  23. chair — to sit on
  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