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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. tear — to rip
  4. spell — a short time
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. press — to push
  7. rash — a series
  8. spell — letters
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. press — newspapers
  11. cold — an illness
  12. race — the arms race
  13. band — a ring
  14. mine — for digging
  15. tear — from crying
  16. race — humankind
  17. press — a publisher
  18. cold — not warm
  19. race — a contest
  20. spell — magic
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. rash — hasty
  23. tear — from crying
  24. rash — on the skin

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