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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. band — a ring
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. game — a match
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. wound — an injury
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. saw — the tool
  14. date — the fruit
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. game — wild animals
  19. saw — the tool
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. wound — an injury

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