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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: pop · fork · last · mark · game · chest · band · tear

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. mark — a grade
  3. tear — to rip
  4. game — a match
  5. tear — from crying
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. last — final
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. mark — a trace
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. last — finally
  13. chest — of your body
  14. pop — soda
  15. chest — a box
  16. band — a ring
  17. tear — from crying
  18. last — to go on
  19. game — wild animals
  20. pop — music
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. pop — to visit
  23. chest — of your body
  24. fork — in a road

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