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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. cold — not warm
  3. season — in sport
  4. cold — an illness
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. season — of the year
  8. prune — to trim
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. present — the time now
  12. present — there
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. present — a gift
  15. band — a music group
  16. rule — government
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. wind — moving air
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. rule — a law
  24. prune — to trim

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