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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. band — a ring
  3. cue — a hint
  4. spring — the season
  5. spring — of water
  6. march — music
  7. wound — an injury
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. dip — to sink
  10. cue — a signal
  11. march — the month
  12. spring — a coil
  13. cue — for pool
  14. march — the month
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. wound — an injury
  18. dip — to dunk

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