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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. band — a music group
  3. band — a ring
  4. rest — a break
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. wound — an injury
  9. swing — music
  10. swing — to play on
  11. object — to protest
  12. wound — an injury
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. prune — to trim
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — not warm
  17. object — a thing
  18. swing — in golf
  19. rest — what's left
  20. prune — to trim
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. rest — what's left
  24. cold — an illness

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