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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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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: content · file · can · wind · band · prune · straw · bay

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. My mare is ________________ in color.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. can — a tin
  4. can — to be able to
  5. band — a ring
  6. prune — to trim
  7. content — the amount
  8. prune — to trim
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. file — a document
  12. wind — moving air
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. file — a line of people
  17. bay — a horse colour
  18. file — a tool
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. can — a tin
  23. wind — moving air
  24. band — a music group

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