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

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. spell — magic
  4. roll — a cake
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. row — a line
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. row — to paddle
  9. band — a music group
  10. spell — a short time
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. spell — letters
  13. cap — a hat
  14. roll — a list
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. cap — of ice
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. band — a ring
  24. cap — a lid

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