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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: straw · march · net · bulb · sharp · club · band · rest

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. net — after costs
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. club — for dancing
  7. club — for golf
  8. bulb — for light
  9. net — in sport
  10. march — music
  11. rest — what's left
  12. rest — what's left
  13. rest — a break
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. sharp — clever
  17. band — a music group
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. march — the month
  20. bulb — for light
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. band — a ring
  23. club — a group
  24. net — for catching

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