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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 water is too ________________.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. race — the arms race
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. band — a ring
  6. row — a line
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. bass — low music
  9. race — a contest
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. cold — an illness
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. band — a music group
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. toast — bread
  21. race — humankind
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. row — to paddle
  24. bass — the fish

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