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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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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: race · band · rule · prune · pop · can · present · spring

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. rule — a law
  3. can — a tin
  4. pop — music
  5. can — to be able to
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. prune — to trim
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. present — a gift
  11. race — the arms race
  12. race — humankind
  13. can — a tin
  14. spring — a coil
  15. race — a contest
  16. prune — to trim
  17. present — the time now
  18. pop — soda
  19. present — there
  20. spring — the season
  21. band — a ring
  22. spring — of water
  23. pop — to visit
  24. band — a music group

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