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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. present — a gift
  3. band — a ring
  4. present — the time now
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. firm — decided
  7. capital — a city
  8. bass — low music
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. firm — steady
  11. lie — to recline
  12. prune — to trim
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. firm — a company
  17. bass — the fish
  18. cold — an illness
  19. prune — to trim
  20. band — a music group
  21. present — there
  22. capital — money
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. lie — an untruth

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