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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 116 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: last · race · root · bulb · band · game · wound · pitch

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. band — a ring
  3. game — a match
  4. race — humankind
  5. last — final
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. last — finally
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. bulb — for light
  10. wound — an injury
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. race — the arms race
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. root — of a word
  15. bulb — for light
  16. last — to go on
  17. pitch — completely
  18. race — a contest
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. root — of a plant
  23. band — a music group
  24. root — the cause

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