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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: club · rash · race · land · squash · band · fall · wind

  1. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. race — humankind
  4. rash — hasty
  5. fall — to drop
  6. squash — the sport
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. wind — moving air
  9. squash — to crush
  10. race — the arms race
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. land — ground
  13. land — a country
  14. club — for golf
  15. fall — to drop
  16. club — a group
  17. fall — the season
  18. club — for dancing
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. wind — moving air
  21. band — a ring
  22. land — to come down
  23. band — a music group
  24. race — a contest

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