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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. wound — an injury
  4. rash — a series
  5. spring — the season
  6. spring — of water
  7. spring — a coil
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. band — a ring
  10. pop — soda
  11. row — to paddle
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. rash — hasty
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. tube — the underground
  17. row — a line
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. wound — an injury
  20. band — a music group
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. tube — a container
  23. pop — to visit
  24. pop — music

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