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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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. wave — a sudden rise
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. last — final
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. file — a tool
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. snap — to click
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. band — a ring
  14. last — to go on
  15. game — a match
  16. perch — the fish
  17. file — a line of people
  18. file — a document
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. band — a music group
  22. game — wild animals
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. last — finally

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