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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. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. sharp — clever
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. band — a ring
  5. bass — low music
  6. band — a music group
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. hand — help
  9. row — to paddle
  10. hand — in cards
  11. game — wild animals
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. stock — goods
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. game — a match
  21. stock — shares
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. bass — the fish
  24. row — a line

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