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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. track — to keep track
  3. band — a ring
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. race — the arms race
  7. land — to come down
  8. deal — to handle
  9. land — a country
  10. club — a group
  11. bass — the fish
  12. land — ground
  13. club — for golf
  14. cold — not warm
  15. track — a path
  16. track — a song
  17. bass — low music
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. band — a music group
  20. race — humankind
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. cold — an illness
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. race — a contest

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