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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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. shower — to wash
  4. band — a music group
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. field — a subject
  7. face — part of the head
  8. shower — rain
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. field — for sport
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. band — a ring
  13. face — to confront
  14. field — farmland
  15. mine — for digging
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. craft — a skill
  21. face — to point toward
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. craft — boats

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