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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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. staff — employees
  4. game — a match
  5. saw — the tool
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. shower — to wash
  10. swing — in golf
  11. game — wild animals
  12. band — a music group
  13. band — a ring
  14. swing — to play on
  15. wound — an injury
  16. saw — the tool
  17. wound — an injury
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. shower — rain
  21. staff — employees
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. swing — music
  24. staff — a stick

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