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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 is an ace ________________.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. pass — a permit
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. club — for dancing
  7. band — a ring
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. club — a group
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. cold — not warm
  13. club — for golf
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. fork — in a road
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. content — the amount
  19. cold — an illness
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. content — happy
  23. lie — to recline
  24. band — a music group

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