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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. band — a ring
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. bat — the animal
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. band — a music group
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. track — a song
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. track — a path
  20. march — the month
  21. sharp — clever
  22. track — to keep track
  23. march — music
  24. march — the month

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