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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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. band — a ring
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. squash — to crush
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. band — a music group
  7. rash — hasty
  8. chair — a leader
  9. mine — for digging
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. squash — the sport
  12. race — a contest
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. race — the arms race
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. race — humankind

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