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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. dip — to sink
  4. spell — letters
  5. game — wild animals
  6. band — a ring
  7. land — to come down
  8. shower — rain
  9. spell — a short time
  10. march — music
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. land — ground
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. march — the month
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. wax — to grow
  19. march — the month
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. game — a match
  22. spell — magic
  23. land — a country
  24. shower — to wash

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