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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 120 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.

Make a worksheet

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: straw · game · hand · band · staff · wound

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. wound — an injury
  4. game — a match
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. staff — employees
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. band — a music group
  10. band — a ring
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. hand — help
  13. hand — in cards
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. staff — employees
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. staff — a stick
  18. game — wild animals

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