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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I can't ________________ this cold.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. pop — music
  3. band — a ring
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. lean — thin
  6. lean — to bend
  7. cold — not warm
  8. scale — size or range
  9. pop — soda
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. scale — in music
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. cold — an illness
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. sharp — clever
  17. rash — a series
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. rash — hasty
  20. pop — to visit
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. stand — to bear
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. stand — for spectators

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