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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. pop — soda
  3. pop — to visit
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. march — music
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. tear — from crying
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. tear — from crying
  11. pop — music
  12. shower — rain
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. march — the month
  15. march — the month
  16. shower — to wash
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. tear — to rip
  19. rush — hurry
  20. band — a music group
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. mine — for digging
  23. band — a ring
  24. sharp — clever

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