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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. wound — an injury
  3. band — a ring
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. march — music
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. craft — boats
  8. dip — to sink
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. band — a music group
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. march — the month
  13. bank — for money
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. wake — a trail
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. craft — a skill
  18. shower — to wash
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. bank — for money
  21. wound — an injury
  22. bank — of a river
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. shower — rain

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