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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. cold — an illness
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. cold — not warm
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. wake — a trail
  10. file — a document
  11. file — a line of people
  12. file — a tool
  13. charge — a price
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. charge — in control
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. spring — a coil
  18. charge — electricity
  19. spring — of water
  20. spring — the season
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. band — a music group
  24. lash — an eyelash

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