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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: rule · race · fall · plane · bat · pop · band · craft

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. band — a music group
  3. rule — government
  4. race — humankind
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. craft — a skill
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. rule — a law
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. band — a ring
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. bat — the animal
  13. pop — soda
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. fall — to drop
  16. plane — a tool
  17. race — the arms race
  18. pop — to visit
  19. pop — music
  20. craft — boats
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. fall — the season
  23. race — a contest
  24. rule — to rule out

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