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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. pop — to visit
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. row — a line
  5. track — to keep track
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. mug — to rob
  8. pop — music
  9. track — a song
  10. cold — not warm
  11. band — a ring
  12. mug — a face
  13. swing — to play on
  14. swing — music
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. cold — an illness
  17. track — a path
  18. swing — in golf
  19. pop — soda
  20. mug — a cup
  21. rush — hurry
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. band — a music group
  24. row — to paddle

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