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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. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. pass — a permit
  3. cold — not warm
  4. snap — to click
  5. pound — a weight
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. mate — a partner
  9. mate — a friend
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wound — an injury
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. lie — to recline
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. mate — to breed
  22. cold — an illness
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. band — a ring

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