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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. band — a music group
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. prune — to trim
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. kid — child
  12. shower — rain
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. prune — to trim
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. kid — to tease
  21. band — a ring
  22. chair — a leader
  23. season — in sport
  24. shower — to wash

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