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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. last — final
  4. wound — an injury
  5. object — to protest
  6. dip — to sink
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. object — an aim
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. last — finally
  11. band — a ring
  12. object — a thing
  13. bear — the animal
  14. cell — in biology
  15. race — humankind
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. last — to go on
  18. race — the arms race
  19. cell — a phone
  20. wound — an injury
  21. bear — the animal
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. race — a contest

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