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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 116 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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. race — humankind
  3. field — a subject
  4. squash — to crush
  5. field — for sport
  6. press — to push
  7. race — the arms race
  8. band — a music group
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. rash — a series
  12. field — farmland
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. race — a contest
  15. press — newspapers
  16. press — a publisher
  17. squash — the sport
  18. rash — hasty

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