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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. tear — from crying
  3. dip — to sink
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. land — ground
  7. land — to come down
  8. band — a ring
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. tear — to rip
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. cell — a phone
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. shower — to wash
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. land — a country
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. cell — in biology
  21. stand — to bear
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. shower — rain
  24. tear — from crying

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