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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. swing — music
  3. tube — a container
  4. bear — the animal
  5. cold — an illness
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. can — a tin
  8. can — to be able to
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. band — a music group
  11. bear — the animal
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. swing — to play on
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. hand — help
  16. cold — not warm
  17. tube — the underground
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. hand — in cards
  20. can — a tin
  21. swing — in golf
  22. rule — government
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. rule — a law

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