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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  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. pitcher — a jug
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. kick — in football
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. band — a music group
  6. bear — the animal
  7. pop — soda
  8. cold — not warm
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. pop — to visit
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. bear — the animal
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. spell — a short time
  18. cold — an illness
  19. spell — magic
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. pop — music
  22. spell — letters
  23. leaves — of a tree
  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