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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. last — to go on
  3. bank — of a river
  4. mate — a partner
  5. last — finally
  6. last — final
  7. race — the arms race
  8. mate — a friend
  9. season — of the year
  10. band — a music group
  11. clip — for paper
  12. band — a ring
  13. mate — to breed
  14. swing — music
  15. bank — for money
  16. clip — to cut
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. race — humankind
  19. clip — a video
  20. race — a contest
  21. swing — in golf
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. season — in sport
  24. bank — for money

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