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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 rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. bound — certain
  3. bound — obliged
  4. file — a line of people
  5. cap — of ice
  6. band — a ring
  7. present — there
  8. snap — to click
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. rest — what's left
  11. rest — what's left
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. rest — a break
  14. file — a document
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. present — the time now
  17. cap — a lid
  18. cap — a hat
  19. date — the fruit
  20. band — a music group
  21. present — a gift
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. bound — tied together
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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