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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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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: band · coach · chip · rule · cap · race · row · squash

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. squash — the sport
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. row — a line
  7. chip — for betting
  8. row — to paddle
  9. cap — a lid
  10. race — the arms race
  11. cap — of ice
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. band — a ring
  14. rule — a law
  15. cap — a hat
  16. race — a contest
  17. race — humankind
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. band — a music group
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. rule — government
  23. chip — to eat
  24. squash — to crush

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