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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. band — a ring
  3. last — to go on
  4. band — a music group
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. swing — in golf
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. spring — of water
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. plane — a tool
  15. hand — in cards
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. last — finally
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. swing — to play on
  20. spring — the season
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. hand — help
  23. swing — music
  24. last — final

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