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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 124 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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. craft — a skill
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. hand — in cards
  9. rock — a stone
  10. cold — an illness
  11. band — a ring
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. rock — music
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. craft — boats
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. hand — help
  23. cold — not warm
  24. band — a music group

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