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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. club — for dancing
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. content — the amount
  7. wake — a trail
  8. club — for golf
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. hand — in cards
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. band — a music group
  14. prune — to trim
  15. hand — help
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. content — happy
  19. prune — to trim
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. wind — moving air
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. club — a group

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