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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. When will it ________________ you to start?
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. club — for dancing
  4. suit — clothes
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. last — to go on
  7. last — finally
  8. suit — in cards
  9. degree — from a university
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. perch — the fish
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. last — final
  15. degree — an amount
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. club — for golf
  18. suit — to fit
  19. club — a group
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. ball — a dance
  22. ball — a great time
  23. degree — temperature
  24. band — a music group

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