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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. rash — a series
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. band — a music group
  5. band — a ring
  6. pass — a permit
  7. file — a document
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. shower — rain
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. wound — an injury
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. rash — hasty
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. file — a tool
  21. wound — an injury
  22. file — a line of people
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. shower — to wash

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