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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. last — to go on
  4. band — a music group
  5. rule — government
  6. spell — a short time
  7. pop — to visit
  8. spell — magic
  9. last — finally
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. cold — an illness
  12. rule — a law
  13. last — final
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. object — a thing
  16. spell — letters
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. pop — soda
  19. cold — not warm
  20. object — an aim
  21. object — to protest
  22. pop — music
  23. cold — the Cold War
  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