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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 116 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 hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. hand — help
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. band — a ring
  5. cell — a phone
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. wind — moving air
  8. race — humankind
  9. hand — in cards
  10. bark — to shout
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. band — a music group
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. race — the arms race
  16. race — a contest
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. plane — a tool
  20. cell — in biology
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. pound — a weight
  23. bark — of a tree
  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