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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. race — a contest
  3. rush — hurry
  4. race — the arms race
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. bulb — for light
  9. field — for sport
  10. lean — thin
  11. capital — a city
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. field — farmland
  14. lean — to bend
  15. field — a subject
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. bulb — for light
  18. race — humankind
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. capital — money
  22. band — a ring
  23. hand — in cards
  24. hand — help

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