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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 116 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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. race — humankind
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. rash — a series
  6. band — a music group
  7. bore — to tire
  8. race — the arms race
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. game — wild animals
  11. race — a contest
  12. mate — to breed
  13. wind — moving air
  14. game — a match
  15. rash — hasty
  16. wind — moving air
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. saw — the tool
  20. mate — a friend
  21. saw — the tool
  22. mate — a partner
  23. bore — to drill
  24. band — a rubber band

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