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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: chest · chair · plane · pound · band · spring · calf · race

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. race — humankind
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. band — a music group
  5. plane — a tool
  6. race — the arms race
  7. spring — the season
  8. band — a ring
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. chest — a box
  11. chair — a leader
  12. pound — a weight
  13. chest — of your body
  14. race — a contest
  15. spring — of water
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. chest — of your body
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. spring — a coil

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