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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. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. last — to go on
  5. wound — an injury
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. cold — an illness
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. last — finally
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. cold — not warm
  16. band — a ring
  17. snap — to click
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. wound — an injury
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. last — final
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. cold — the Cold War

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