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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. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. race — humankind
  3. band — a ring
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. game — wild animals
  7. field — for sport
  8. press — to push
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. field — farmland
  12. press — a publisher
  13. press — newspapers
  14. race — a contest
  15. row — a line
  16. row — to paddle
  17. field — a subject
  18. season — of the year
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. season — in sport
  21. game — a match
  22. band — a music group
  23. race — the arms race
  24. band — a rubber band

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