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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 116 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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. When will it ________________ you to start?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. game — wild animals
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. game — a match
  5. rash — hasty
  6. band — a music group
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. present — a gift
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. suit — in cards
  12. bass — low music
  13. spell — magic
  14. suit — clothes
  15. present — there
  16. bass — the fish
  17. rash — a series
  18. hand — in cards
  19. hand — help
  20. present — the time now
  21. spell — letters
  22. spell — a short time
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. suit — to fit

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