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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. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. sharp — clever
  3. band — a music group
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. march — the month
  6. march — music
  7. wound — an injury
  8. rest — what's left
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. march — the month
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. rest — what's left
  15. rest — a break
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. chest — a box
  18. band — a ring
  19. chest — of your body
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. chest — of your body
  23. pound — a weight
  24. wake — before a funeral

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