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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: lie · bat · prune · race · mate · band · date · wind

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. mate — to breed
  5. bat — the animal
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. prune — to trim
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. race — humankind
  12. prune — to trim
  13. wind — moving air
  14. race — a contest
  15. mate — a friend
  16. band — a music group
  17. wind — moving air
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. race — the arms race
  20. lie — to recline
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. date — the fruit
  23. mate — a partner
  24. lie — an untruth

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