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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  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. bass — the fish
  2. race — humankind
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. spring — the season
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. spring — a coil
  8. cold — an illness
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. band — a music group
  13. race — a contest
  14. band — a ring
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. bass — low music
  21. cold — not warm
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. spring — of water
  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