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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 sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. spell — letters
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. scale — in music
  6. wind — moving air
  7. game — wild animals
  8. squash — to crush
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. spell — a short time
  11. squash — the sport
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. spell — magic
  14. band — a music group
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. band — a ring
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. bark — to shout
  22. scale — size or range
  23. game — a match
  24. wind — moving air

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