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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: mine · straw · race · march · deal · band · temple · mark

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. band — a ring
  3. march — the month
  4. deal — to handle
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. mark — a grade
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. mark — a trace
  11. march — music
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. race — humankind
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. band — a music group
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. mine — for digging
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. march — the month
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. race — the arms race
  24. race — a contest

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