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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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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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. row — a line
  4. mug — a cup
  5. mug — to rob
  6. fall — the season
  7. bear — the animal
  8. fall — to drop
  9. chair — a leader
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. cold — not warm
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. mug — a face
  14. fall — to drop
  15. cold — an illness
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. row — to paddle
  20. bear — the animal
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. trunk — of a car

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