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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: kid · present · chair · shower · pound · race · pass · branch

  1. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. kid — child
  4. shower — to wash
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. chair — a leader
  8. pass — a permit
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. branch — a division
  13. present — the time now
  14. present — a gift
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. present — there
  17. shower — rain
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. race — a contest
  20. race — the arms race
  21. race — humankind
  22. kid — to tease
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. pound — for dogs

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