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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: race · cap · chair · bound · cell · mark · band · march

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. cell — in biology
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. cell — a phone
  7. cap — a hat
  8. chair — a leader
  9. bound — obliged
  10. race — humankind
  11. race — the arms race
  12. mark — a grade
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. mark — a trace
  15. band — a ring
  16. cap — of ice
  17. cap — a lid
  18. race — a contest
  19. band — a music group
  20. bound — tied together
  21. march — the month
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. march — music
  24. bound — certain

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