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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: pop · band · deal · leaves · last · key · snap · race

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. band — a ring
  3. last — finally
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. key — for a lock
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. last — final
  10. band — a music group
  11. last — to go on
  12. pop — soda
  13. pop — music
  14. race — humankind
  15. deal — to handle
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. race — a contest
  20. pop — to visit
  21. snap — to click
  22. key — the most important part
  23. key — in music
  24. race — the arms race

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