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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. race — a contest
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. mate — a partner
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. mate — to breed
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. root — the cause
  10. rash — hasty
  11. shower — rain
  12. squash — the sport
  13. band — a music group
  14. root — of a word
  15. race — humankind
  16. shower — to wash
  17. mate — a friend
  18. squash — to crush
  19. root — of a plant
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. race — the arms race
  22. rash — a series
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. mine — for digging

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