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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. band — a music group
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. race — a contest
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. content — the amount
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. land — a country
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. land — ground
  12. content — happy
  13. race — humankind
  14. squash — the sport
  15. cap — a lid
  16. rule — government
  17. cap — of ice
  18. cap — a hat
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. land — to come down
  22. band — a ring
  23. squash — to crush
  24. race — the arms race

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