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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: chip · last · band · pitcher · hand · firm · wound · row

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. last — finally
  4. row — to paddle
  5. last — final
  6. firm — a company
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. band — a ring
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. chip — to eat
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. hand — help
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. firm — steady
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. row — a line
  19. chip — for betting
  20. firm — decided
  21. wound — an injury
  22. hand — in cards
  23. last — to go on
  24. wound — an injury

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