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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. band — a ring
  3. fine — high quality
  4. fine — all right
  5. staff — employees
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. staff — a stick
  8. band — a music group
  9. charge — a price
  10. charge — electricity
  11. cold — an illness
  12. charge — in control
  13. bound — certain
  14. staff — employees
  15. bound — tied together
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. march — the month
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. march — the month
  23. bound — obliged
  24. deal — to handle

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