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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 120 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. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. bound — certain
  3. bound — obliged
  4. wake — a trail
  5. craft — boats
  6. pop — music
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. pop — soda
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. band — a music group
  11. tear — from crying
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. craft — a skill
  14. tear — from crying
  15. spring — the season
  16. spring — a coil
  17. bound — tied together
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. spring — of water
  20. pop — to visit
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. tear — to rip
  24. dip — to sink

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