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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. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — to attach or keep to
  2. band — a ring
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. race — the arms race
  5. file — a tool
  6. race — a contest
  7. clip — a video
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. clip — to cut
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. file — a line of people
  13. spell — magic
  14. rule — a law
  15. file — a document
  16. spell — letters
  17. rule — government
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. race — humankind
  20. spell — a short time
  21. rash — hasty
  22. clip — for paper
  23. rash — a series
  24. band — a music group

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