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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. march — the month
  3. band — a ring
  4. march — music
  5. present — the time now
  6. wound — an injury
  7. present — a gift
  8. bear — the animal
  9. cell — a phone
  10. band — a music group
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. bear — the animal
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. present — there
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. march — the month
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. roll — a list
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. roll — a cake
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. cell — in biology
  24. wound — an injury

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