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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. pop — music
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. ball — a dance
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. cold — an illness
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. ball — a great time
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. perch — the fish
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. cold — not warm
  16. board — to get on
  17. pop — to visit
  18. pop — soda
  19. band — a ring
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. sharp — clever
  24. board — a committee

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