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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. spell — magic
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. spell — letters
  7. tube — a container
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. stand — to bear
  12. ground — a position
  13. snap — to click
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. tube — the underground
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. ground — crushed
  20. spell — a short time
  21. row — a line
  22. ground — the earth
  23. row — to paddle
  24. band — a music group

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