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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. hand — in cards
  4. wound — an injury
  5. band — a music group
  6. pop — music
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. band — a ring
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. pop — soda
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. wound — an injury
  13. fork — in a road
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. stock — goods
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. scale — size or range
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. stock — shares
  21. hand — help
  22. scale — in music
  23. lie — to recline
  24. band — a rubber band

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