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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 116 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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. band — a ring
  4. mate — a friend
  5. race — a contest
  6. shower — to wash
  7. rest — what's left
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. rest — a break
  10. kid — to tease
  11. shower — rain
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. rest — what's left
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. last — to go on
  16. last — finally
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. kid — child
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. mate — a partner
  21. race — the arms race
  22. last — final
  23. race — humankind
  24. mate — to breed

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