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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. march — the month
  3. march — music
  4. toast — bread
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. fork — in a road
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. march — the month
  9. cold — not warm
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. current — electric
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. current — of water
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. current — happening now
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. band — a music group
  24. toast — a drink to someone

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