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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: swing · wind · fall · face · hand · band

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. fall — to drop
  3. fall — the season
  4. wind — moving air
  5. band — a music group
  6. swing — in golf
  7. face — to confront
  8. hand — help
  9. face — part of the head
  10. wind — moving air
  11. fall — to drop
  12. swing — music
  13. band — a ring
  14. swing — to play on
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. face — to point toward
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. hand — in cards

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