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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  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. sharp — exactly
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. land — ground
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. bark — to shout
  7. club — for dancing
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. band — a music group
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. land — a country
  14. band — a ring
  15. club — for golf
  16. bat — the animal
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. land — to come down
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. sharp — clever
  23. straw — dry grass
  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