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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: rest · wave · straw · spring · band · wound · pit · track

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. track — a song
  3. spring — of water
  4. spring — the season
  5. wound — an injury
  6. pit — a hole
  7. rest — a break
  8. track — to keep track
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. band — a music group
  14. pit — in a race
  15. band — a ring
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. rest — what's left
  19. track — a path
  20. rest — what's left
  21. wound — an injury
  22. spring — a coil
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. band — a rubber band

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