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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. bound — obliged
  3. kid — child
  4. band — a ring
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. current — of water
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. row — a line
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. staff — employees
  11. bound — tied together
  12. band — a music group
  13. current — electric
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. bass — the fish
  16. bound — certain
  17. current — happening now
  18. kid — to tease
  19. bass — low music
  20. row — to paddle
  21. staff — a stick
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. staff — employees
  24. band — a rubber band

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