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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: ground · lie · season · pit · band · drill · cold · rash

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. cold — not warm
  3. drill — the tool
  4. pit — in a race
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. drill — a practice
  8. rash — hasty
  9. lie — to recline
  10. season — of the year
  11. pit — a hole
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. band — a ring
  14. ground — a position
  15. rash — a series
  16. drill — army training
  17. ground — crushed
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. cold — an illness
  20. ground — the earth
  21. band — a music group
  22. season — in sport
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. cold — the Cold War

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