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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. march — the month
  3. object — to protest
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. band — a ring
  6. rest — what's left
  7. bat — the animal
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. march — music
  11. prune — to trim
  12. prune — to trim
  13. charge — in control
  14. charge — a price
  15. band — a music group
  16. object — an aim
  17. charge — electricity
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. rest — what's left
  20. march — the month
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. rest — a break
  23. object — a thing
  24. straw — dry grass

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