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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: wound · band · squash · foot · ball · hand · row · scale

  1. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. band — a ring
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. scale — in music
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. squash — the sport
  8. hand — help
  9. scale — size or range
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. hand — in cards
  12. band — a music group
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. wound — an injury
  16. row — to paddle
  17. squash — to crush
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. row — a line
  20. ball — a great time
  21. wound — an injury
  22. ball — a dance
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. foot — part of the body

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