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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. rule — a law
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. last — finally
  5. band — a music group
  6. last — to go on
  7. rule — government
  8. fine — all right
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. last — final
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. pit — a hole
  16. hand — in cards
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. pit — in a race
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. season — of the year
  21. hand — help
  22. fine — high quality
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. season — in sport

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