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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: kid · rock · fan · pound · rest · band · shower · jam

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Would you like some apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. rest — what's left
  4. rock — music
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. shower — rain
  7. rest — what's left
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. shower — to wash
  11. band — a ring
  12. jam — a tight spot
  13. pound — a weight
  14. band — a music group
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. kid — to tease
  19. rock — a stone
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. kid — child
  24. jam — to spread on bread

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