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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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. staff — employees
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. band — a music group
  8. pitch — completely
  9. staff — employees
  10. kid — child
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. shower — rain
  13. ground — the earth
  14. ground — a position
  15. band — a ring
  16. rash — a series
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. kid — to tease
  19. shower — to wash
  20. staff — a stick
  21. ground — crushed
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. rash — hasty

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