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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. firm — a company
  3. band — a ring
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. firm — decided
  7. firm — steady
  8. cell — a phone
  9. wound — an injury
  10. present — a gift
  11. shower — rain
  12. band — a music group
  13. capital — a city
  14. present — the time now
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. capital — money
  17. present — there
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. shower — to wash
  22. rash — a series
  23. rash — hasty
  24. cell — in biology

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