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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: present · band · mine · mouse · roll · straw · chest · last

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  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. present — a gift
  2. chest — a box
  3. roll — a cake
  4. last — to go on
  5. chest — of your body
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. band — a ring
  9. band — a music group
  10. roll — a list
  11. present — the time now
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. last — finally
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. present — there
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. chest — of your body
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. mine — for digging
  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