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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. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. squash — to crush
  3. field — a subject
  4. rash — a series
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. net — after costs
  7. race — humankind
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. squash — the sport
  10. race — a contest
  11. field — for sport
  12. net — for catching
  13. race — the arms race
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. field — farmland
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. band — a ring
  21. net — in sport
  22. rash — hasty
  23. band — a music group
  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