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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. current — happening now
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. wind — moving air
  5. hand — help
  6. band — a music group
  7. hand — in cards
  8. bound — certain
  9. current — electric
  10. current — of water
  11. bound — obliged
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. wind — moving air
  16. land — a country
  17. game — a match
  18. band — a ring
  19. game — wild animals
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. bound — tied together
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. land — ground
  24. land — to come down

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