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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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. band — a rubber band
  4. object — to protest
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. band — a music group
  7. race — a contest
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. degree — from a university
  10. squash — to crush
  11. pit — a hole
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. wax — to grow
  14. object — an aim
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. degree — temperature
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. object — a thing
  20. pit — in a race
  21. squash — the sport
  22. degree — an amount
  23. race — the arms race
  24. perch — the fish

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