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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: mark · race · bear · cold · band · net · cell · pop

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. pop — music
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. pop — soda
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. net — after costs
  7. cold — an illness
  8. net — for catching
  9. mark — a trace
  10. cell — a phone
  11. cold — not warm
  12. bear — the animal
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. mark — a grade
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. cell — in biology
  17. race — humankind
  18. race — a contest
  19. net — in sport
  20. band — a music group
  21. band — a ring
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. pop — to visit
  24. bear — the animal

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