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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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. mine — for digging
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. band — a ring
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. chest — of your body
  11. spell — magic
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — an illness
  16. chest — of your body
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. cold — not warm
  19. lie — to recline
  20. spell — letters
  21. foot — a measure
  22. chest — a box
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. spell — a short time

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