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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. firm — a company
  4. degree — an amount
  5. band — a music group
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. degree — from a university
  8. firm — decided
  9. firm — steady
  10. race — a contest
  11. race — the arms race
  12. race — humankind
  13. clip — to cut
  14. bulb — for light
  15. clip — for paper
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. clip — a video
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. degree — temperature
  20. last — finally
  21. last — final
  22. bulb — for light
  23. band — a ring
  24. branch — a division

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