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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 124 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. There's no middle ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. ground — a position
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. ground — crushed
  6. key — for a lock
  7. mine — for digging
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. band — a ring
  10. key — in music
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. key — the most important part
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. swing — in golf
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. swing — to play on
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. ground — the earth
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. swing — music

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