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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 · pit · wave · kick · rush · chip · band · bat

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. rush — hurry
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. pit — a hole
  8. band — a ring
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. chip — for betting
  12. chip — to eat
  13. kick — in football
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. pit — in a race
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. bat — the animal
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. band — a music group
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. chip — in a computer

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