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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. fine — all right
  3. wound — an injury
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. band — a ring
  6. fine — high quality
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. wind — moving air
  9. hand — help
  10. net — in sport
  11. field — a subject
  12. wound — an injury
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. wind — moving air
  17. net — for catching
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. field — farmland
  20. net — after costs
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. band — a music group
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. field — for sport

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