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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: row · band · drill · squash · race · cold · bulb · deal

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. race — the arms race
  3. race — a contest
  4. row — to paddle
  5. cold — not warm
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. race — humankind
  8. deal — to handle
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. bulb — for light
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. drill — army training
  14. squash — the sport
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. drill — a practice
  17. squash — to crush
  18. cold — an illness
  19. row — a line
  20. band — a music group
  21. drill — the tool
  22. bulb — for light
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. deal — a big deal

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