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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. wound — an injury
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. chair — a leader
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. rash — hasty
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. rule — a law
  13. wound — an injury
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. rash — a series
  16. season — of the year
  17. wax — to grow
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. band — a ring
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. fork — in a road
  22. season — in sport
  23. rule — government
  24. fork — to eat with

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