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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. My mare is ________________ in color.

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. field — for sport
  4. bay — to keep at bay
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. field — farmland
  7. wound — an injury
  8. field — a subject
  9. wound — an injury
  10. kid — to tease
  11. last — final
  12. pass — a permit
  13. band — a music group
  14. last — to go on
  15. last — finally
  16. kid — child
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. row — to paddle
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. row — a line
  24. bay — a horse colour

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