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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  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 ring
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. rock — a stone
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. ground — the earth
  9. rock — music
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. chair — a leader
  12. ground — crushed
  13. face — to point toward
  14. face — part of the head
  15. ground — a position
  16. wound — an injury
  17. band — a music group
  18. wound — an injury
  19. bark — to shout
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. face — to confront
  23. calf — a young animal
  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