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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 band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. spell — a short time
  6. march — the month
  7. march — the month
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. band — a music group
  10. wind — moving air
  11. spell — magic
  12. tube — the underground
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. wind — moving air
  15. tube — a container
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. file — a tool
  18. spell — letters
  19. file — a document
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. file — a line of people
  24. band — a ring

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