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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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. swing — music
  4. chest — of your body
  5. fall — to drop
  6. cold — not warm
  7. fall — to drop
  8. chest — of your body
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. fall — the season
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. chest — a box
  13. swing — to play on
  14. perch — the fish
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. wax — to grow
  18. cold — an illness
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. swing — in golf
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. band — a ring
  23. band — a music group
  24. leaves — to go away

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