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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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. dip — to sink
  3. last — to go on
  4. band — a ring
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. chest — of your body
  7. pit — a hole
  8. band — a music group
  9. chest — of your body
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. last — finally
  13. swing — in golf
  14. swing — to play on
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. pit — in a race
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. swing — music
  19. chest — a box
  20. wound — an injury
  21. last — final
  22. wound — an injury
  23. hand — help
  24. hand — in cards

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