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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: season · toast · perch · pound · mine · race · band · cell

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. race — the arms race
  4. toast — bread
  5. cell — a phone
  6. season — in sport
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. toast — the most admired
  9. mine — for digging
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. cell — in biology
  12. band — a ring
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. pound — a weight
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. race — a contest
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. season — of the year
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. perch — the fish
  23. race — humankind
  24. pound — to hit hard

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