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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. band — a ring
  3. bound — tied together
  4. march — the month
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. race — a contest
  7. bound — obliged
  8. race — humankind
  9. net — in sport
  10. scale — in music
  11. spring — the season
  12. spring — a coil
  13. ground — the earth
  14. march — music
  15. march — the month
  16. ground — crushed
  17. net — after costs
  18. race — the arms race
  19. spring — of water
  20. net — for catching
  21. scale — size or range
  22. bound — certain
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. band — a music group

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