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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 120 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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. band — a music group
  4. fine — all right
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. fine — high quality
  9. race — the arms race
  10. last — finally
  11. last — final
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. stem — to come from
  14. wind — moving air
  15. chair — a leader
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. band — a ring
  18. wind — moving air
  19. race — a contest
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. race — humankind
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. chair — to sit on

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