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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. file — a line of people
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. file — a document
  5. cold — not warm
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. chair — a leader
  8. cold — an illness
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. club — for dancing
  11. stock — shares
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. file — a tool
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. club — for golf
  16. season — in sport
  17. season — of the year
  18. stock — goods
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. club — a group
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. snap — to click
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. band — a ring

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