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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 116 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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. band — a ring
  4. march — the month
  5. can — to be able to
  6. spring — of water
  7. pop — soda
  8. can — a tin
  9. race — humankind
  10. march — the month
  11. race — a contest
  12. can — a tin
  13. race — the arms race
  14. row — to paddle
  15. wound — an injury
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. pop — music
  19. row — a line
  20. spring — the season
  21. march — music
  22. spring — a coil
  23. wound — an injury
  24. band — a music group

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