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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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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: band · lash · face · season · mate · race · trunk · row

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. mate — a partner
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. season — in sport
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. race — humankind
  7. race — the arms race
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. face — to confront
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. race — a contest
  13. face — part of the head
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. face — to point toward
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. season — of the year
  18. band — a music group
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. mate — to breed
  21. row — to paddle
  22. row — a line
  23. mate — a friend
  24. season — to add flavour

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