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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. cold — not warm
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. band — a music group
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. date — the fruit
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. foot — a measure
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. cold — an illness
  18. lean — to bend
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. deal — to handle
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. lean — thin
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. band — a rubber band

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