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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. band — a ring
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. kid — to tease
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. band — a music group
  7. scale — in music
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. fine — high quality
  12. cell — a phone
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. scale — size or range
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. cell — in biology
  17. prune — to trim
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. fine — all right
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. prune — to trim
  24. temple — a place of worship

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