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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. band — a music group
  3. court — for sport
  4. court — of law
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. saw — the tool
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. wind — moving air
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. mine — for digging
  15. band — a ring
  16. hand — in cards
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. wind — moving air
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. saw — the tool
  24. court — of a king

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