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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. band — a ring
  3. fall — the season
  4. fine — high quality
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. capital — a city
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. rock — a stone
  10. band — a music group
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. capital — money
  14. bear — the animal
  15. bear — the animal
  16. rock — music
  17. wind — moving air
  18. cold — not warm
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. fine — all right
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. fall — to drop
  24. fall — to drop

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