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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. row — to paddle
  5. band — a music group
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. kid — child
  8. band — a ring
  9. rule — government
  10. craft — a skill
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. bat — the animal
  15. craft — boats
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. rule — a law
  20. row — a line
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. kid — to tease
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. stand — to bear

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