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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. band — a music group
  5. march — music
  6. club — for dancing
  7. chest — a box
  8. club — for golf
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chest — of your body
  12. land — ground
  13. land — a country
  14. ground — the earth
  15. rash — a series
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. ground — a position
  18. toast — bread
  19. march — the month
  20. rash — hasty
  21. band — a ring
  22. ground — crushed
  23. club — a group
  24. march — the month

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