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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. land — ground
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. rush — hurry
  5. land — a country
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. saw — the tool
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. saw — the tool
  15. ruler — a monarch
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. plane — a tool
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. band — a music group
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. land — to come down
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wind — moving air

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