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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. hand — in cards
  3. spell — magic
  4. stand — to bear
  5. band — a ring
  6. wound — an injury
  7. hand — help
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. wound — an injury
  10. spell — letters
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. kid — child
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. bass — the fish
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. kid — to tease
  21. band — a music group
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. bass — low music
  24. stand — for spectators

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