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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. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. hand — help
  3. hand — in cards
  4. bass — low music
  5. row — a line
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. band — a ring
  8. race — humankind
  9. charge — a price
  10. charge — in control
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. race — the arms race
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. mine — for digging
  16. race — a contest
  17. bass — the fish
  18. row — to paddle
  19. charge — electricity
  20. band — a music group
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. mine — an explosive

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