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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. capital — money
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. rest — what's left
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. capital — a city
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. rest — a break
  12. cue — a signal
  13. tube — the underground
  14. cue — for pool
  15. tube — a container
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. rest — what's left
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. cue — a hint
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. band — a ring

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