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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: race · wind · rule · shower · ball · band · squash · rest

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. wind — moving air
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. shower — to wash
  5. band — a ring
  6. squash — to crush
  7. ball — a great time
  8. band — a music group
  9. shower — rain
  10. race — the arms race
  11. squash — the sport
  12. wind — moving air
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. rule — a law
  15. ball — a dance
  16. rule — government
  17. rest — a break
  18. rest — what's left
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. race — a contest
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. race — humankind
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. squash — the vegetable

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