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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: mouse · bound · game · band · chest · wind · shower · coach

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. shower — to wash
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. bound — tied together
  11. chest — a box
  12. band — a music group
  13. bound — obliged
  14. bound — certain
  15. chest — of your body
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. wind — moving air
  18. band — a ring
  19. game — a match
  20. game — wild animals
  21. chest — of your body
  22. wind — moving air
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. shower — rain

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