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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 asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. swing — music
  3. swing — to play on
  4. spell — letters
  5. scale — in music
  6. stock — shares
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. band — a music group
  9. file — a tool
  10. swing — in golf
  11. band — a ring
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. tube — the underground
  14. spell — a short time
  15. file — a document
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. stock — goods
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. file — a line of people
  22. tube — a container
  23. scale — size or range
  24. scale — for weighing

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