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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. tear — from crying
  4. squash — to crush
  5. tear — to rip
  6. band — a ring
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. saw — the tool
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. tear — from crying
  11. game — a match
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. game — wild animals
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. saw — the tool
  17. band — a music group
  18. squash — the sport
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. kick — in football
  21. march — the month
  22. march — the month
  23. march — music
  24. fine — high quality

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