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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 120 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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. last — finally
  4. band — a music group
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. march — the month
  10. march — the month
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. cold — an illness
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. cold — not warm
  15. sharp — clever
  16. march — music
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. bank — for money
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. bank — for money
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. bank — of a river
  23. last — final
  24. last — to go on

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