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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. kid — child
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. band — a music group
  5. march — music
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. wake — a trail
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. march — the month
  11. band — a ring
  12. wound — an injury
  13. kid — to tease
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. rule — government
  18. rule — a law
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. march — the month
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. plane — a tool
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. cabinet — ministers

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