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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: bowl · band · row · scale · track · game · race · spell

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. band — a ring
  3. band — a music group
  4. game — wild animals
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. game — a match
  7. spell — letters
  8. race — the arms race
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. track — a path
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. row — to paddle
  14. scale — in music
  15. scale — size or range
  16. spell — magic
  17. spell — a short time
  18. track — a song
  19. row — a line
  20. race — a contest
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. track — to keep track
  23. race — humankind
  24. band — a rubber band

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