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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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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: race · band · land · craft · content · straw · press · branch

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. craft — boats
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. craft — a skill
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. land — to come down
  9. race — the arms race
  10. press — to push
  11. band — a ring
  12. band — a music group
  13. land — a country
  14. press — newspapers
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. race — a contest
  17. land — ground
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. content — happy
  20. content — the amount
  21. press — a publisher
  22. branch — a division
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. branch — of a bank

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