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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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. field — a subject
  3. band — a ring
  4. bark — to shout
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. field — for sport
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. squash — the sport
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. cold — not warm
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. lie — to recline
  14. squash — to crush
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. field — farmland
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. cold — an illness
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. band — a music group
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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