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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. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. board — to get on
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. race — a contest
  6. bass — low music
  7. bass — the fish
  8. band — a music group
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. bat — the animal
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. club — for dancing
  13. band — a ring
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. club — for golf
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. cold — not warm
  19. race — humankind
  20. board — a committee
  21. race — the arms race
  22. ball — a dance
  23. ball — a great time
  24. cold — an illness

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