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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 124 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 cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. band — a ring
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. pit — a hole
  6. ball — a dance
  7. ball — a great time
  8. board — to get on
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. tear — to rip
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. ground — the earth
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. ground — crushed
  15. board — a committee
  16. pit — in a race
  17. band — a music group
  18. branch — a division
  19. tear — from crying
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. ground — a position
  24. straw — dry grass

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