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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. band — a music group
  5. object — to protest
  6. object — a thing
  7. last — final
  8. last — to go on
  9. pound — a weight
  10. object — an aim
  11. wound — an injury
  12. file — a tool
  13. row — a line
  14. face — to confront
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. row — to paddle
  17. face — to point toward
  18. file — a line of people
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. last — finally
  22. file — a document
  23. band — a ring
  24. face — part of the head

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