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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 is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. march — music
  3. chest — of your body
  4. race — humankind
  5. band — a music group
  6. chest — of your body
  7. march — the month
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. lean — to bend
  11. march — the month
  12. chest — a box
  13. band — a ring
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. race — the arms race
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. race — a contest
  18. nail — on a finger

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