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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 116 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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. tear — from crying
  4. pound — a weight
  5. court — of law
  6. fall — the season
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. season — in sport
  9. court — for sport
  10. band — a ring
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. scale — size or range
  14. fall — to drop
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. tube — the underground
  17. tear — from crying
  18. scale — in music
  19. fall — to drop
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. tube — a container
  22. tear — to rip
  23. court — of a king
  24. band — a music group

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