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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: trunk · race · cold · mug · lash · bulb · ground · band

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. ground — the earth
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. mug — to rob
  5. cold — an illness
  6. race — the arms race
  7. band — a music group
  8. mug — a face
  9. bulb — for light
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. race — a contest
  18. mug — a cup
  19. race — humankind
  20. ground — a position
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. ground — crushed
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. bulb — for light

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