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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. band — a music group
  6. face — part of the head
  7. ball — a great time
  8. face — to point toward
  9. wound — an injury
  10. roll — a list
  11. ball — a dance
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. band — a ring
  15. wound — an injury
  16. face — to confront
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. tear — from crying
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. tear — to rip
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. tear — from crying
  24. pass — a permit

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