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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: rule · swing · toast · last · band · cold

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. cold — an illness
  3. band — a music group
  4. last — to go on
  5. rule — government
  6. last — final
  7. swing — in golf
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. cold — not warm
  12. swing — to play on
  13. toast — bread
  14. last — finally
  15. rule — a law
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. swing — music

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