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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. club — for golf
  3. clip — for paper
  4. club — a group
  5. bear — the animal
  6. band — a music group
  7. band — a ring
  8. hand — in cards
  9. hand — help
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. bass — the fish
  13. club — for dancing
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. wind — moving air
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. clip — to cut
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. bear — the animal
  20. board — a committee
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. clip — a video
  23. bass — low music
  24. board — to get on

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