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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. stick — to attach or keep to
  3. pop — music
  4. tear — from crying
  5. pop — soda
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. band — a ring
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — not warm
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. cold — an illness
  12. tear — from crying
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. band — a music group
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. drill — a practice
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. drill — the tool
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. tear — to rip
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. drill — army training

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