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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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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: rule · band · toast · wind · game · arm · snap · wound

  1. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. band — a ring
  3. toast — bread
  4. game — a match
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wound — an injury
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. rule — government
  14. rule — a law
  15. wind — moving air
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. band — a music group
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. wound — an injury
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. game — wild animals
  23. snap — to click
  24. game — a kind of play

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