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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: game · firm · wave · cell · last · straw · band · pop

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. firm — steady
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. firm — a company
  6. pop — music
  7. band — a music group
  8. last — final
  9. cell — in biology
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. pop — to visit
  12. band — a ring
  13. last — finally
  14. game — a match
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. pop — soda
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. firm — decided
  21. last — to go on
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. game — wild animals
  24. cell — a phone

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