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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. charge — electricity
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. band — a music group
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. band — a ring
  9. charge — in control
  10. dip — to sink
  11. net — after costs
  12. charge — a price
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. bore — to tire
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. bore — to drill
  17. squash — to crush
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. net — for catching
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. hand — in cards
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. net — in sport
  24. hand — help

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