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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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. tear — to rip
  3. saw — the tool
  4. kid — to tease
  5. mug — a face
  6. tear — from crying
  7. band — a ring
  8. stem — to come from
  9. season — in sport
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. mug — a cup
  12. saw — the tool
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. cell — a phone
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. mug — to rob
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. tear — from crying
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. kid — child
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. season — of the year
  23. band — a music group
  24. cell — in biology

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