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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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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: pound · mate · pop · chair · coach · wind · file · race

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  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 — a contest
  2. pound — a weight
  3. mate — a friend
  4. race — humankind
  5. wind — moving air
  6. pop — music
  7. chair — a leader
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. pop — soda
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. file — a tool
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. mate — a partner
  15. file — a line of people
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. file — a document
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. pop — to visit
  22. mate — to breed
  23. wind — moving air
  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