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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: mug · wake · wind · court · band · branch · hand · straw

  1. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. band — a music group
  3. wind — moving air
  4. court — of a king
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. branch — a division
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. band — a ring
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. hand — in cards
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. wake — a trail
  14. hand — help
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. wind — moving air
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. mug — a cup
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. court — for sport
  23. court — of law
  24. mug — to rob

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