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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. bass — low music
  3. bound — certain
  4. cold — not warm
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. rest — what's left
  9. row — a line
  10. band — a music group
  11. snap — to click
  12. rest — a break
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bass — the fish
  16. rest — what's left
  17. row — to paddle
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. band — a ring
  20. bound — obliged
  21. bound — tied together
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. straw — a straw man

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