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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  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. hand — help
  2. ground — crushed
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. march — the month
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. band — a ring
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. fine — high quality
  10. march — music
  11. fine — all right
  12. board — to get on
  13. cell — a phone
  14. march — the month
  15. hand — in cards
  16. ground — the earth
  17. cell — in biology
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. board — a committee
  22. snap — to click
  23. ground — a position
  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