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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. staff — employees
  3. march — the month
  4. can — a tin
  5. chest — of your body
  6. tube — the underground
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. tube — a container
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. can — to be able to
  12. staff — employees
  13. chest — of your body
  14. band — a music group
  15. chip — for betting
  16. wound — an injury
  17. staff — a stick
  18. march — the month
  19. wound — an injury
  20. can — a tin
  21. chip — to eat
  22. band — a ring
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. chest — a box

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