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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. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. staff — a stick
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. can — a tin
  5. march — the month
  6. cold — not warm
  7. race — a contest
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. can — to be able to
  10. roll — a cake
  11. band — a ring
  12. march — music
  13. staff — employees
  14. race — humankind
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. march — the month
  17. staff — employees
  18. dip — to sink
  19. can — a tin
  20. roll — a list
  21. cold — an illness
  22. race — the arms race
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. cold — the Cold War

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