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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: patient · game · toast · cabinet · race · band · pop · kid

  1. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. race — humankind
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. kid — child
  5. kid — to tease
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. pop — to visit
  8. race — the arms race
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. race — a contest
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. game — wild animals
  16. band — a ring
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. pop — music
  20. toast — bread
  21. game — a match
  22. band — a music group
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. pop — soda

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