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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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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. season — of the year
  4. chest — a box
  5. file — a document
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. chest — of your body
  9. pop — music
  10. file — a tool
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. band — a music group
  13. stand — to bear
  14. pop — soda
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. season — in sport
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. bark — to shout
  20. file — a line of people
  21. chest — of your body
  22. pop — to visit
  23. plane — a tool
  24. band — a ring

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