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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: date · race · march · dip · tear · net · staff · pound

  1. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. race — humankind
  4. tear — from crying
  5. net — after costs
  6. date — the fruit
  7. net — for catching
  8. staff — employees
  9. race — the arms race
  10. march — the month
  11. race — a contest
  12. march — the month
  13. dip — to sink
  14. pound — a weight
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. tear — from crying
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. staff — a stick
  21. net — in sport
  22. tear — to rip
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. march — music

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