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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 120 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. David sat on the ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. swing — to play on
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. saw — the tool
  6. bat — the animal
  7. wound — an injury
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. pass — a permit
  11. scale — in music
  12. swing — in golf
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. wound — an injury
  16. swing — music
  17. band — a music group
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. craft — boats
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. scale — size or range
  22. craft — a skill
  23. saw — the tool
  24. bat — for baseball

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