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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: suit · hand · bound · cold · racket · shower · mine · band

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. When will it ________________ you to start?
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. suit — clothes
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. band — a ring
  7. cold — an illness
  8. band — a music group
  9. suit — to fit
  10. mine — for digging
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. shower — to wash
  13. suit — in cards
  14. shower — rain
  15. bound — tied together
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. bound — certain
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. cold — not warm
  21. bound — obliged
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. hand — in cards
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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