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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: wave · clip · band · kid · rash · race · press · stem

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. press — to push
  3. race — a contest
  4. band — a ring
  5. press — a publisher
  6. clip — to cut
  7. race — the arms race
  8. stem — to come from
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. rash — a series
  12. press — newspapers
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. clip — a video
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. kid — to tease
  18. clip — for paper
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. race — humankind
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. rash — hasty
  24. kid — child

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