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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 116 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 assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. band — a music group
  3. scale — size or range
  4. scale — in music
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. swing — music
  7. face — to confront
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. swing — to play on
  10. swing — in golf
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. perch — the fish
  13. hand — in cards
  14. band — a ring
  15. fine — high quality
  16. face — to point toward
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. file — a line of people
  19. file — a document
  20. file — a tool
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. face — part of the head
  24. hand — help

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