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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. ground — a position
  3. scale — size or range
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. band — a music group
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. band — a ring
  11. file — a document
  12. file — a tool
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. hand — help
  15. wind — moving air
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. hand — in cards
  18. file — a line of people
  19. ground — crushed
  20. roll — a list
  21. wind — moving air
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. ground — the earth
  24. roll — a cake

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