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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: race · ground · fork · present · band · snap

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. band — a ring
  3. ground — a position
  4. race — the arms race
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. present — a gift
  7. fork — in a road
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. race — humankind
  10. ground — crushed
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. race — a contest
  13. ground — the earth
  14. present — the time now
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. band — a music group
  18. present — there

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