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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. net — in sport
  4. spring — the season
  5. face — to confront
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. spring — a coil
  8. stem — to come from
  9. rash — hasty
  10. game — wild animals
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. face — part of the head
  13. band — a ring
  14. net — after costs
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. rash — a series
  19. spring — of water
  20. face — to point toward
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. net — for catching
  23. game — a match
  24. hide — animal skin

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