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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. band — a music group
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. wound — an injury
  6. cap — of ice
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. cap — a hat
  10. game — a match
  11. cap — a lid
  12. hand — in cards
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. hand — help
  16. game — wild animals
  17. wound — an injury
  18. rest — a break
  19. fork — in a road
  20. rest — what's left
  21. rest — what's left
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. foot — a measure

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