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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. present — a gift
  3. mark — a trace
  4. race — the arms race
  5. band — a ring
  6. game — a match
  7. wind — moving air
  8. present — there
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. race — a contest
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. mark — a grade
  13. present — the time now
  14. band — a music group
  15. game — wild animals
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. race — humankind

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