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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: last · club · lash · pound · dip · cell · race · scale

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. last — finally
  3. scale — in music
  4. club — for dancing
  5. club — for golf
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. cell — in biology
  10. club — a group
  11. pound — a weight
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. scale — size or range
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. cell — a phone
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. last — final
  20. last — to go on
  21. race — a contest
  22. dip — to sink
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. race — the arms race

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