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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 116 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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. wind — moving air
  4. staff — employees
  5. staff — employees
  6. band — a music group
  7. ground — crushed
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. ground — a position
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wound — an injury
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. band — a ring
  19. game — wild animals
  20. wax — to grow
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. staff — a stick
  23. game — a match
  24. ground — the earth

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