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

Word bank: band · drill · tear · chip · race · game

  1. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. 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. chip — to eat
  2. band — a ring
  3. drill — the tool
  4. tear — to rip
  5. band — a music group
  6. tear — from crying
  7. chip — for betting
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. drill — a practice
  10. game — a match
  11. drill — army training
  12. tear — from crying
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. race — a contest
  15. race — humankind
  16. game — wild animals
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. 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