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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 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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. pitch — completely
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. bat — the animal
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. march — the month
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. rush — hurry
  11. court — of law
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. march — the month
  15. shower — to wash
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. band — a ring
  18. march — music
  19. toast — bread
  20. court — for sport
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. court — of a king
  23. toast — the most admired
  24. shower — rain

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