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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 116 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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. cell — in biology
  3. row — a line
  4. bass — low music
  5. ground — a position
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. scale — size or range
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. spell — magic
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. ground — the earth
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. spell — letters
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. ground — crushed
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. lie — to recline
  18. scale — in music
  19. cell — a phone
  20. spell — a short time
  21. band — a music group
  22. bass — the fish
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. row — to paddle

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