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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: pitcher · game · band · wind · dip · straw · rock · wound

  1. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to sink
  2. rock — music
  3. wind — moving air
  4. rock — a stone
  5. band — a ring
  6. wind — moving air
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. game — a match
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. band — a music group
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. wound — an injury
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. game — wild animals
  24. wound — an injury

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