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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. band — a ring
  3. game — a match
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. band — a music group
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. bat — the animal
  9. snap — to click
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. pass — a permit
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. key — for a lock
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. tear — from crying
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. key — in music
  19. tear — to rip
  20. tear — from crying
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. game — wild animals
  23. key — the most important part
  24. bat — for baseball

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