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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 120 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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. face — to confront
  4. last — to go on
  5. hand — help
  6. row — a line
  7. squash — to crush
  8. stock — goods
  9. last — final
  10. row — to paddle
  11. hand — in cards
  12. stock — shares
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. face — part of the head
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. face — to point toward
  19. last — finally
  20. band — a ring
  21. pound — a weight
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. squash — the sport
  24. row — a quarrel

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