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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. tear — from crying
  4. tear — from crying
  5. track — a path
  6. roll — a list
  7. band — a music group
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. rest — what's left
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. band — a ring
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. track — a song
  16. rest — what's left
  17. tear — to rip
  18. bat — the animal
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. roll — a cake
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. track — to keep track
  24. rest — a break

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