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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: straw · ruler · bat · hand · band · pitcher · net · wake

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. bat — the animal
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. hand — help
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. net — in sport
  14. band — a music group
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. net — after costs
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. band — a ring
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. wake — a trail
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. hand — in cards

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