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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: tear · season · race · chest · band · branch · ruler · ball

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. band — a ring
  3. season — in sport
  4. chest — a box
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. tear — from crying
  8. chest — of your body
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. branch — a division
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. tear — from crying
  15. ball — a dance
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. race — humankind
  18. ball — a great time
  19. chest — of your body
  20. tear — to rip
  21. race — a contest
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. race — the arms race
  24. band — a music group

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