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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: firm · date · trunk · hand · march · deal · rash · band

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. firm — a company
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. march — the month
  7. date — the fruit
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. firm — decided
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. deal — to handle
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. rash — a series
  17. band — a music group
  18. hand — help
  19. firm — steady
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. march — the month
  22. hand — in cards
  23. band — a ring
  24. march — music

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