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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. My mare is ________________ in color.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. band — a ring
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. tear — to rip
  5. wind — moving air
  6. cell — in biology
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. wind — moving air
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. content — the amount
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. band — a music group
  14. tear — from crying
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. kid — to tease
  17. cell — a phone
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. bay — a horse colour
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. content — happy
  23. tear — from crying
  24. coach — a trainer

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