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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: band · fall · sharp · rock · file · pound · chest · straw

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. band — a ring
  3. band — a music group
  4. fall — the season
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. fall — to drop
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. chest — of your body
  10. file — a tool
  11. fall — to drop
  12. chest — of your body
  13. rock — music
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. file — a line of people
  16. pound — a weight
  17. sharp — clever
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. rock — a stone
  22. file — a document
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. pound — to hit hard

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