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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 124 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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. march — the month
  4. hand — help
  5. spell — magic
  6. hand — in cards
  7. kid — to tease
  8. kid — child
  9. can — a tin
  10. object — a thing
  11. band — a music group
  12. rash — hasty
  13. spell — letters
  14. object — an aim
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. object — to protest
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. can — a tin
  19. spell — a short time
  20. rash — a series
  21. march — the month
  22. band — a ring
  23. can — to be able to
  24. rash — on the 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