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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 116 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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. present — a gift
  6. rush — hurry
  7. prune — to trim
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. band — a music group
  10. swing — music
  11. present — there
  12. present — the time now
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. mine — for digging
  15. wind — moving air
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. game — wild animals
  19. wind — moving air
  20. game — a match
  21. swing — in golf
  22. band — a ring
  23. prune — to trim
  24. mine — belonging to me

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