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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. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. stick — to attach or keep to
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. chest — of your body
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. date — the fruit
  8. band — a ring
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. cold — not warm
  11. band — a music group
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. perch — the fish
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. snap — to click
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — a box
  22. fork — in a road
  23. cold — an illness
  24. fork — a garden tool

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