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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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Word bank
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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: toast · game · mine · bore · pop · date · rash · race

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. race — humankind
  4. game — wild animals
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. pop — music
  7. pop — soda
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. bore — to tire
  10. toast — bread
  11. game — a match
  12. bore — to drill
  13. race — a contest
  14. date — the fruit
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. rash — a series
  18. pop — to visit
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. race — the arms race
  23. toast — a drink to someone
  24. mine — for digging

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