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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. band — a music group
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. hand — help
  5. bound — certain
  6. kid — to tease
  7. wake — a trail
  8. plane — a tool
  9. bark — to shout
  10. bound — obliged
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. object — to protest
  13. object — an aim
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. hand — in cards
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. kid — child
  19. object — a thing
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. bound — tied together
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. wake — before a funeral

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