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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 ________________ went through the wall.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. cell — in biology
  5. band — a music group
  6. snap — to click
  7. season — of the year
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. cell — a phone
  10. fork — in a road
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. wake — a trail
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. present — a gift
  16. season — in sport
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. present — the time now
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. present — there
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. nail — for a hammer

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