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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. bass — the fish
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. band — a ring
  6. hand — help
  7. kick — in football
  8. toast — bread
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. date — the fruit
  11. file — a tool
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. file — a document
  14. band — a music group
  15. hand — in cards
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. bass — low music
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. saw — the tool
  22. file — a line of people
  23. saw — the tool
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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