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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. band — a ring
  3. tear — to rip
  4. tear — from crying
  5. pop — music
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. swing — music
  8. bank — of a river
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. bank — for money
  11. march — the month
  12. pop — soda
  13. swing — to play on
  14. march — the month
  15. march — music
  16. swing — in golf
  17. hand — in cards
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. tear — from crying
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. bank — for money
  23. band — a music group
  24. hand — help

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