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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. pit — in a race
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. shower — to wash
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. can — a tin
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. pit — a hole
  11. ball — a great time
  12. cold — an illness
  13. band — a music group
  14. scale — size or range
  15. scale — in music
  16. field — for sport
  17. shower — rain
  18. field — a subject
  19. can — to be able to
  20. cold — not warm
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. ball — a dance
  23. can — a tin
  24. field — farmland

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