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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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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: deal · game · march · bound · fall · band · race · rash

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. march — the month
  3. fall — to drop
  4. game — wild animals
  5. band — a music group
  6. game — a match
  7. fall — to drop
  8. bound — tied together
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. bound — certain
  14. rash — a series
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. rash — hasty
  17. race — humankind
  18. march — music
  19. march — the month
  20. fall — the season
  21. deal — to handle
  22. race — the arms race
  23. bound — obliged
  24. race — a contest

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