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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: spell · tear · pop · band · kid · arm · fall · stand

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. band — a ring
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. pop — to visit
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. kid — to tease
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. pop — soda
  11. tear — from crying
  12. spell — magic
  13. stand — to bear
  14. kid — child
  15. tear — from crying
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. fall — the season
  18. fall — to drop
  19. spell — a short time
  20. band — a music group
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. pop — music
  23. fall — to drop
  24. tear — to rip

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