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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 120 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. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. swing — to play on
  3. race — a contest
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. fine — all right
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. band — a ring
  8. fine — high quality
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. swing — in golf
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. current — happening now
  14. shower — to wash
  15. swing — music
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. current — of water
  18. current — electric
  19. race — humankind
  20. shower — rain
  21. band — a music group
  22. stem — to come from
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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