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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. tube — a container
  5. tube — the underground
  6. game — a match
  7. sharp — clever
  8. fine — high quality
  9. fall — to drop
  10. fall — the season
  11. game — wild animals
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. root — the cause
  17. band — a music group
  18. fine — all right
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. fall — to drop
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. root — of a plant
  24. root — of a word

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