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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: tear · band · cold · file · pop · board · racket · sharp

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. band — a music group
  3. board — to get on
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. band — a ring
  7. tear — to rip
  8. pop — to visit
  9. tear — from crying
  10. cold — an illness
  11. pop — music
  12. file — a line of people
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. pop — soda
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. file — a tool
  18. tear — from crying
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. file — a document
  21. sharp — clever
  22. board — a committee
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. racket — a loud noise

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