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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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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: cell · band · race · stand · land · key · bat · lash

  1. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  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. stand — to bear
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. land — a country
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. band — a ring
  9. bat — the animal
  10. land — to come down
  11. race — the arms race
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. key — in music
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. cell — a phone
  17. key — the most important part
  18. land — ground
  19. race — humankind
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. key — for a lock
  22. race — a contest
  23. cell — in biology
  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