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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  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 ring
  2. club — for dancing
  3. tube — a container
  4. club — a group
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. capital — a city
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. chest — of your body
  9. tear — from crying
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. chest — of your body
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. tear — to rip
  14. kick — in football
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. chest — a box
  17. dip — to sink
  18. capital — money
  19. band — a music group
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. club — for golf
  22. tube — the underground
  23. tube — in a tire
  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