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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. chair — a leader
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. band — a music group
  5. file — a tool
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. file — a document
  8. bat — the animal
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. squash — the sport
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. squash — to crush
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. bass — low music
  19. bass — the fish
  20. band — a ring
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. mouse — the animal

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