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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. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. band — a ring
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. mate — a friend
  6. spring — of water
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. spring — a coil
  9. mate — to breed
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. mate — a partner
  12. fall — the season
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. kick — in football
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. bark — to shout
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. fall — to drop
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. fall — to drop
  21. spring — the season
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. band — a music group
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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