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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 120 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 · wound · band · foot · cold · cue · lean · mate

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. mate — a friend
  3. foot — a measure
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. mate — to breed
  6. race — humankind
  7. cue — a signal
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. race — the arms race
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. band — a music group
  14. cold — not warm
  15. mate — a partner
  16. cue — for pool
  17. cue — a hint
  18. race — a contest
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. lean — to bend
  21. cold — an illness
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — an injury
  24. lean — thin

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