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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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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. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. toast — bread
  4. chip — to eat
  5. race — the arms race
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. band — a music group
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. race — humankind
  10. cold — an illness
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. band — a ring
  14. race — a contest
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. chip — for betting

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