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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. cold — not warm
  5. band — a ring
  6. net — in sport
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. cold — an illness
  9. drill — army training
  10. fine — high quality
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. net — after costs
  13. pound — a weight
  14. fine — all right
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. net — for catching
  17. drill — the tool
  18. drill — a practice
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. rush — hurry
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. band — a music group
  24. pound — for dogs

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