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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: charge · band · row · stand · cell · last · race · ground

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. The tickets are free of ________________.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. ground — crushed
  3. race — a contest
  4. charge — electricity
  5. last — finally
  6. stand — to bear
  7. last — to go on
  8. charge — in control
  9. ground — the earth
  10. charge — a price
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. band — a music group
  13. race — humankind
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. ground — a position
  16. cell — in biology
  17. row — to paddle
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. band — a ring
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. race — the arms race
  23. cell — a phone
  24. row — a line

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