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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. spell — a short time
  3. mine — for digging
  4. field — for sport
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. field — farmland
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. spell — letters
  10. spell — magic
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. chair — a leader
  14. last — final
  15. last — to go on
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. band — a ring
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. field — a subject
  24. last — finally

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