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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 116 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: race · band · cell · net · last · bound · pitch · bank

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. race — the arms race
  3. last — finally
  4. last — to go on
  5. race — humankind
  6. last — final
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. bound — obliged
  10. race — a contest
  11. pitch — completely
  12. bound — certain
  13. band — a music group
  14. bound — tied together
  15. bank — for money
  16. cell — a phone
  17. net — in sport
  18. bank — of a river
  19. bank — for money
  20. net — for catching
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. cell — in biology
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. band — a ring

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