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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. fine — all right
  3. band — a ring
  4. fine — high quality
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. clip — for paper
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. root — of a word
  11. root — the cause
  12. shower — to wash
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. tear — from crying
  16. clip — to cut
  17. shower — rain
  18. tear — from crying
  19. tear — to rip
  20. clip — a video
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. root — of a plant
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. bowl — to roll

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