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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 120 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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. field — a subject
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. cue — a hint
  6. shower — rain
  7. band — a ring
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. field — for sport
  11. field — farmland
  12. cue — a signal
  13. sharp — clever
  14. current — electric
  15. file — a line of people
  16. cue — for pool
  17. plane — a tool
  18. current — of water
  19. current — happening now
  20. shower — to wash
  21. file — a document
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. file — a tool
  24. sharp — with an edge

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