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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. pop — to visit
  4. cell — a phone
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. pop — soda
  8. prune — to trim
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. band — a music group
  11. ground — a position
  12. cell — in biology
  13. wound — an injury
  14. cold — an illness
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. wound — an injury
  17. ground — crushed
  18. ground — the earth
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. pop — music
  23. prune — to trim
  24. cold — not warm

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