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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 120 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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. band — a ring
  3. tear — from crying
  4. scale — size or range
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. march — music
  7. cap — a hat
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. band — a music group
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. cap — a lid
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. rush — hurry
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. present — a gift
  16. present — the time now
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. cap — of ice
  19. march — the month
  20. mine — for digging
  21. march — the month
  22. scale — in music
  23. tear — from crying
  24. present — there

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