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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  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. race — a contest
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. bass — low music
  4. field — a subject
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. pop — soda
  9. race — the arms race
  10. bass — the fish
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. roll — a list
  15. field — for sport
  16. roll — a cake
  17. band — a ring
  18. pop — music
  19. race — humankind
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. pop — to visit
  22. field — farmland
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  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