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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 116 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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. key — the most important part
  3. mine — for digging
  4. key — for a lock
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. tear — to rip
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. rule — a law
  9. rule — government
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. key — in music
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tube — a container
  18. capital — money
  19. wound — an injury
  20. tube — the underground
  21. capital — a city
  22. wound — an injury
  23. tear — from crying
  24. band — a music group

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