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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 quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. cell — in biology
  5. pop — soda
  6. land — to come down
  7. band — a ring
  8. pop — music
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. cell — a phone
  11. scale — in music
  12. cap — a lid
  13. cap — of ice
  14. land — ground
  15. cap — a hat
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. band — a music group
  22. land — a country
  23. pop — to visit
  24. scale — size or range

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