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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. ball — a great time
  3. rule — a law
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. band — a ring
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. hand — in cards
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. rule — government
  17. plane — a tool
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. ball — a dance
  21. hand — help
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. straw — dry grass

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