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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. ground — crushed
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. club — a group
  7. ground — a position
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. band — a ring
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. wind — moving air
  12. game — wild animals
  13. bark — to shout
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. game — a match
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. wake — a trail
  18. club — for dancing
  19. saw — the tool
  20. saw — the tool
  21. band — a music group
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. club — for golf
  24. ground — the earth

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