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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. band — a ring
  3. current — electric
  4. current — happening now
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. bound — certain
  9. cold — an illness
  10. current — of water
  11. fine — high quality
  12. tear — from crying
  13. tear — from crying
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. bound — obliged
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. bound — tied together
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. fine — all right
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. cold — not warm
  24. tear — to rip

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