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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. band — a ring
  3. pitch — completely
  4. tear — from crying
  5. tear — from crying
  6. ball — a great time
  7. ball — a dance
  8. tube — a container
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. wound — an injury
  11. clip — to cut
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. tear — to rip
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. clip — a video
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. clip — for paper
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. tube — the underground
  24. wound — an injury

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