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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. roll — a list
  5. wind — moving air
  6. cell — in biology
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cell — a phone
  12. roll — a cake
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. sharp — clever
  17. cold — an illness
  18. band — a music group
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. cold — not warm
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. wind — moving air

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