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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. band — a music group
  3. cold — not warm
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. wound — an injury
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. lean — to bend
  9. bulb — for light
  10. bear — the animal
  11. wound — an injury
  12. firm — a company
  13. hand — in cards
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. hand — help
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. firm — decided
  18. lean — thin
  19. firm — steady
  20. bulb — for light
  21. cold — an illness
  22. bear — the animal
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bulb — of a plant

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