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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. rock — music
  3. spell — letters
  4. spell — magic
  5. rock — a stone
  6. spell — a short time
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. game — wild animals
  9. current — electric
  10. row — a line
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. kid — child
  14. current — of water
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. game — a match
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. current — happening now
  20. row — to paddle
  21. band — a music group
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. kid — to tease
  24. rock — to move gently

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