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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 120 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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. tear — to rip
  4. march — the month
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. game — wild animals
  7. bat — the animal
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. march — the month
  10. tear — from crying
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. game — a match
  15. band — a music group
  16. chip — for betting
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. march — music
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. tear — from crying
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. chip — to eat
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. bat — for baseball

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