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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. swing — in golf
  3. fine — all right
  4. swing — to play on
  5. fine — high quality
  6. track — a song
  7. band — a ring
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. tube — a container
  10. track — to keep track
  11. tube — the underground
  12. hand — in cards
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. track — a path
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. swing — music
  18. band — a music group

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