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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. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. chest — of your body
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. mine — for digging
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. chest — a box
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. chest — of your body
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. scale — size or range
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. scale — in music
  19. fork — in a road
  20. wind — moving air
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. band — a music group
  24. band — a ring

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