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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. object — to protest
  4. field — a subject
  5. chair — a leader
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. ball — a dance
  9. cue — a hint
  10. cue — a signal
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. wind — moving air
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. object — an aim
  15. scale — in music
  16. field — farmland
  17. band — a ring
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. wind — moving air
  20. object — a thing
  21. ball — a great time
  22. field — for sport
  23. cue — for pool
  24. scale — size or range

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