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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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Word bank
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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: last · straw · band · wind · fork · race

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. race — the arms race
  3. race — a contest
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. wind — moving air
  7. last — finally
  8. last — to go on
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. last — final
  11. wind — moving air
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. race — humankind
  17. band — a music group
  18. fork — in a road

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