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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. band — a music group
  3. band — a ring
  4. wound — an injury
  5. current — of water
  6. wound — an injury
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. scale — in music
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. hand — help
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. current — happening now
  13. prune — to trim
  14. present — there
  15. current — electric
  16. key — for a lock
  17. hand — in cards
  18. key — the most important part
  19. prune — to trim
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. scale — size or range
  23. key — in music
  24. present — the time now

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