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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. band — a music group
  3. mine — for digging
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. rash — hasty
  6. staff — a stick
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. rash — a series
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. current — happening now
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. file — a document
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. pound — a weight
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. current — electric
  18. staff — employees
  19. current — of water
  20. file — a tool
  21. file — a line of people
  22. staff — employees
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. wave — with your hand

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