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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. chest — of your body
  4. date — the fruit
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. band — a ring
  7. mine — for digging
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wax — to grow
  11. chest — of your body
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. wound — an injury
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. chest — a box
  24. leaves — of a tree

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