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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 120 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 · hand · bass · swing · band · straw · pound · cell

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  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. band — a rubber band
  2. pound — a weight
  3. cell — in biology
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. game — a match
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. swing — to play on
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. band — a music group
  12. bass — low music
  13. bass — the fish
  14. hand — help
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. swing — in golf
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. game — wild animals
  20. band — a ring
  21. swing — music
  22. hand — in cards
  23. pound — to hit hard
  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