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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: band · race · bat · cell · last · safe

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. cell — in biology
  4. last — final
  5. last — to go on
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. safe — a strongbox
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. race — humankind
  10. race — a contest
  11. last — finally
  12. band — a ring
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. race — the arms race
  15. bat — the animal
  16. cell — a phone
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. bat — in an idiom

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