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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. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  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. roll — on a roll
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. cold — an illness
  5. mark — a trace
  6. lean — thin
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. race — a contest
  9. race — humankind
  10. lean — to bend
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. clip — for paper
  13. clip — to cut
  14. roll — a list
  15. roll — a cake
  16. cold — not warm
  17. content — the amount
  18. race — the arms race
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. mark — a grade
  21. clip — a video
  22. band — a music group
  23. band — a ring
  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