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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. hand — in cards
  3. wound — an injury
  4. wound — an injury
  5. swing — music
  6. land — ground
  7. band — a ring
  8. face — to confront
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. root — the cause
  11. swing — in golf
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. face — to point toward
  14. land — to come down
  15. swing — to play on
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. root — of a word
  18. band — a music group
  19. face — part of the head
  20. root — of a plant
  21. land — a country
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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