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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. race — a contest
  6. chest — a box
  7. race — humankind
  8. club — for dancing
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. content — happy
  11. mark — a grade
  12. band — a music group
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. chest — of your body
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. band — a ring
  17. mark — a trace
  18. chest — of your body
  19. cold — not warm
  20. club — for golf
  21. content — the amount
  22. club — a group
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. race — the arms race

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