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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. cold — not warm
  4. race — the arms race
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wound — an injury
  7. cue — a signal
  8. band — a music group
  9. race — humankind
  10. foot — a measure
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. race — a contest
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cue — a hint
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. cue — for pool
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. cold — the Cold War

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