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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  19. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  20. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. rest — what's left
  5. rest — a break
  6. fine — high quality
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. file — a tool
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. file — a document
  11. file — a line of people
  12. cold — not warm
  13. rest — what's left
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. kick — in football
  18. jam — a tight spot
  19. fine — all right
  20. jam — to spread on bread
  21. mine — for digging
  22. band — a music group
  23. cold — an illness
  24. jam — in traffic

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