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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. band — a ring
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. tear — from crying
  6. charge — a price
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. tear — from crying
  9. prune — to trim
  10. chair — a leader
  11. prune — to trim
  12. can — to be able to
  13. bat — the animal
  14. band — a music group
  15. spring — a coil
  16. can — a tin
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. tear — to rip
  19. charge — in control
  20. spring — the season
  21. charge — electricity
  22. spring — of water
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. can — a tin

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