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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. band — a music group
  3. wound — an injury
  4. lean — to bend
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. march — music
  8. pit — in a race
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. band — a ring
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. march — the month
  13. file — a tool
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. season — in sport
  16. file — a line of people
  17. wound — an injury
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. file — a document
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. perch — the fish
  22. lean — thin
  23. season — of the year
  24. march — the month

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