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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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Word bank
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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: wave · date · straw · scale · bat · band

  1. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. scale — size or range
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. band — a music group
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. date — the fruit
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. bat — the animal
  16. scale — in music
  17. band — a ring
  18. scale — for weighing

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