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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 124 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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. race — humankind
  3. staff — a stick
  4. fine — all right
  5. staff — employees
  6. degree — an amount
  7. cell — a phone
  8. pitch — completely
  9. degree — temperature
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. fine — high quality
  13. band — a music group
  14. staff — employees
  15. tear — from crying
  16. race — the arms race
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. tear — from crying
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. race — a contest
  21. cell — in biology
  22. degree — from a university
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. tear — to rip

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