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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: tear · racket · roll · band · lean · saw · march · wound

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. wound — an injury
  4. march — the month
  5. tear — to rip
  6. wound — an injury
  7. roll — a list
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. roll — a cake
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. saw — the tool
  12. band — a ring
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. march — music
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — from crying
  19. lean — to bend
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. band — a music group
  22. march — the month
  23. lean — thin
  24. saw — the tool

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