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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: rush · ground · date · chest · arm · straw · roll · band

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. chest — of your body
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. chest — a box
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. roll — a list
  8. ground — the earth
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. date — the fruit
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. chest — of your body
  18. ground — a position
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. band — a ring
  21. band — a music group
  22. ground — crushed
  23. roll — a cake
  24. straw — dry grass

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