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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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. snap — to click
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. wind — moving air
  9. bark — to shout
  10. band — a music group
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. field — a subject
  15. wind — moving air
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. field — farmland
  20. field — for sport
  21. board — to get on
  22. board — a committee
  23. bat — the animal
  24. band — a ring

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