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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 116 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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Word bank
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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. present — there
  3. wound — an injury
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. present — the time now
  6. ball — a great time
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. band — a ring
  11. bass — the fish
  12. present — a gift
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. bulb — for light
  17. cold — an illness
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. ball — a dance
  20. bulb — for light
  21. rush — hurry
  22. wound — an injury
  23. band — a music group
  24. bass — low music

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