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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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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: race · game · trunk · band · pop · file · wound · can

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  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. pop — to visit
  2. pop — soda
  3. band — a ring
  4. game — a match
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. can — to be able to
  7. pop — music
  8. race — the arms race
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. game — wild animals
  11. can — a tin
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. race — humankind
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. file — a tool
  16. wound — an injury
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. can — a tin
  20. race — a contest
  21. file — a line of people
  22. file — a document
  23. wound — an injury
  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