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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 116 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: pitcher · fine · band · spring · cold · pass · perch · lean

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. pass — a permit
  6. fine — high quality
  7. spring — a coil
  8. lean — to bend
  9. fine — all right
  10. spring — of water
  11. cold — not warm
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. band — a music group
  17. perch — the fish
  18. lean — thin
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. pass — to succeed
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. spring — the season
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. pass — to spend time

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