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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 116 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: wind · deal · rock · bass · file · hand · club · race

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. club — for golf
  4. race — the arms race
  5. rock — music
  6. deal — to handle
  7. rock — a stone
  8. club — a group
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. wind — moving air
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. hand — in cards
  13. race — humankind
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. bass — the fish
  16. wind — moving air
  17. race — a contest
  18. file — a tool
  19. file — a line of people
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. bass — low music
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. file — a document
  24. club — for dancing

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