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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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. track — a path
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. spring — a coil
  5. rash — a series
  6. kid — child
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. spring — the season
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. saw — the tool
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. rash — hasty
  15. spring — of water
  16. band — a music group
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. saw — the tool
  19. track — a song
  20. band — a ring
  21. kid — to tease
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. pound — a weight
  24. track — to keep track

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