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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. bass — low music
  5. object — an aim
  6. mark — a trace
  7. game — wild animals
  8. band — a ring
  9. mark — a grade
  10. rest — a break
  11. wound — an injury
  12. game — a match
  13. object — a thing
  14. band — a music group
  15. rest — what's left
  16. object — to protest
  17. rest — what's left
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. wound — an injury
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. bass — the fish
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. wake — a trail

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