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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 116 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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: pitch · face · race · rule · band · cell

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. band — a music group
  3. pitch — completely
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. face — to confront
  7. face — to point toward
  8. rule — government
  9. cell — in biology
  10. race — the arms race
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. rule — a law
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. face — part of the head
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. race — humankind
  17. cell — a phone
  18. race — a contest

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