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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. band — a ring
  5. spell — letters
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. bass — the fish
  9. row — a line
  10. spell — magic
  11. bass — low music
  12. current — of water
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. kick — in football
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. craft — boats
  17. current — happening now
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. craft — a skill
  20. current — electric
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. spell — a short time
  23. row — to paddle
  24. band — a music group

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