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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. band — a music group
  3. rest — what's left
  4. drill — army training
  5. charge — a price
  6. band — a ring
  7. rest — what's left
  8. tear — from crying
  9. wind — moving air
  10. cold — an illness
  11. charge — electricity
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. charge — in control
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. pop — to visit
  18. pop — music
  19. tear — to rip
  20. drill — a practice
  21. cold — not warm
  22. pop — soda
  23. tear — from crying
  24. drill — the tool

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