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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. row — a line
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. craft — a skill
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. land — ground
  9. band — a music group
  10. land — a country
  11. pop — to visit
  12. band — a ring
  13. pop — soda
  14. ball — a dance
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. pop — music
  17. craft — boats
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. row — to paddle
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. land — to come down
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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