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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: deal · kid · swing · net · band · straw · last · ball

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. last — final
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. last — to go on
  5. net — in sport
  6. swing — music
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. net — after costs
  9. swing — to play on
  10. swing — in golf
  11. ball — a dance
  12. kid — child
  13. ball — a great time
  14. net — for catching
  15. kid — to tease
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. last — finally
  21. band — a ring
  22. deal — to handle
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. band — a rubber band

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