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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. last — finally
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. last — final
  6. march — the month
  7. track — to keep track
  8. bear — the animal
  9. bear — the animal
  10. content — happy
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. march — music
  13. band — a music group
  14. track — a song
  15. content — the amount
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. shower — rain
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. track — a path
  20. march — the month
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. shower — to wash
  23. last — to go on
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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