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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. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. face — to confront
  4. face — to point toward
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. band — a ring
  8. race — a contest
  9. pit — in a race
  10. race — the arms race
  11. pit — a hole
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. field — farmland
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. field — for sport
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. content — the amount
  20. face — part of the head
  21. band — a music group
  22. field — a subject
  23. race — humankind
  24. content — happy

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