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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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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. band — a music group
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. chair — a leader
  5. net — for catching
  6. net — after costs
  7. bass — low music
  8. bass — the fish
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. game — wild animals
  13. rush — hurry
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. game — a match
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. hand — in cards
  22. net — in sport
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. hand — help

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