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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. fork — in a road
  6. bat — the animal
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. season — in sport
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. rest — what's left
  11. band — a music group
  12. lean — to bend
  13. root — of a word
  14. lean — thin
  15. rest — what's left
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. root — the cause
  18. season — of the year
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. root — of a plant
  23. rest — a break
  24. bat — for baseball

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