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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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. cap — a hat
  3. cap — of ice
  4. saw — the tool
  5. saw — the tool
  6. bound — obliged
  7. tear — from crying
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. bound — certain
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. band — a music group
  16. tear — from crying
  17. cap — a lid
  18. snap — to click
  19. date — the fruit
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. wake — a trail
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. tear — to rip
  24. bound — tied together

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