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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: band · board · face · race · wound · last · spring · fan

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. race — a contest
  6. face — to confront
  7. wound — an injury
  8. race — the arms race
  9. last — finally
  10. board — to get on
  11. race — humankind
  12. spring — a coil
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. board — a committee
  16. wound — an injury
  17. face — to point toward
  18. band — a music group
  19. last — to go on
  20. face — part of the head
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. spring — of water
  23. last — final
  24. spring — the season

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