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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. band — a ring
  3. fork — in a road
  4. wound — an injury
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. swing — in golf
  7. swing — to play on
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. lean — thin
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. wound — an injury
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. tube — a container
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. date — the fruit
  17. rule — a law
  18. lean — to bend
  19. tube — the underground
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. rule — government
  22. swing — music
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. lean — to rest against

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