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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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Word bank
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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: bowl · cell · tear · band · foot · cold

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. foot — a measure
  4. band — a music group
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. tear — from crying
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cell — in biology
  10. cell — a phone
  11. tear — from crying
  12. band — a ring
  13. cold — an illness
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. bowl — a football final

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