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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. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. row — a line
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. court — for sport
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. court — of a king
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. band — a ring
  9. bound — certain
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. court — of law
  12. hand — help
  13. band — a music group
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. rush — hurry
  20. bound — tied together
  21. row — to paddle
  22. perch — the fish
  23. bound — obliged
  24. hand — in cards

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