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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. band — a ring
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. court — of law
  5. court — for sport
  6. game — wild animals
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. dip — to sink
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. court — of a king
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. game — a match
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. fork — in a road
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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