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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 116 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: band · content · game · straw · last · club · staff · bulb

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. last — final
  3. club — for golf
  4. last — to go on
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. staff — employees
  7. club — for dancing
  8. game — wild animals
  9. club — a group
  10. band — a music group
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. staff — employees
  13. bulb — for light
  14. band — a ring
  15. bulb — for light
  16. staff — a stick
  17. last — finally
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. content — the amount
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. game — a match
  24. straw — dry grass

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