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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. fork — in a road
  3. ball — a great time
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. hand — in cards
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. ball — a dance
  9. wind — moving air
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. game — a match
  12. hand — help
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. band — a ring
  17. wind — moving air
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. band — a music group
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. game — wild animals

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