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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. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. key — for a lock
  4. bass — low music
  5. last — finally
  6. last — to go on
  7. key — the most important part
  8. roll — a cake
  9. roll — a list
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. cold — an illness
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. band — a ring
  14. foot — a measure
  15. key — in music
  16. rock — a stone
  17. rock — music
  18. band — a music group
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. bass — the fish
  21. last — final
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. foot — the bottom

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