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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: kid · staff · wound · swing · band · toast · face · fan

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. swing — to play on
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. band — a music group
  5. face — part of the head
  6. face — to confront
  7. wound — an injury
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. face — to point toward
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. staff — employees
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. kid — to tease
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. staff — a stick
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. band — a ring
  18. swing — in golf
  19. staff — employees
  20. swing — music
  21. wound — an injury
  22. toast — bread
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. kid — child

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