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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 116 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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. march — the month
  7. mine — for digging
  8. march — music
  9. rest — a break
  10. march — the month
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. shower — to wash
  17. plane — a tool
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. kick — in football
  20. band — a music group
  21. rest — what's left
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. rest — what's left
  24. shower — rain

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