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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. band — a music group
  3. bulb — for light
  4. fall — to drop
  5. march — the month
  6. swing — to play on
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. march — music
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. fall — the season
  11. toast — bread
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. fall — to drop
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. cold — not warm
  17. march — the month
  18. swing — music
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. swing — in golf
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. cold — an illness
  23. bulb — for light
  24. cold — the Cold War

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