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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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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 · saw · pitcher · last · bass · lean · spell · kid

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. last — final
  3. saw — the tool
  4. kid — to tease
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. spell — letters
  7. spell — a short time
  8. last — finally
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. lean — thin
  14. last — to go on
  15. band — a ring
  16. band — a music group
  17. bass — low music
  18. lean — to bend
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. saw — the tool
  22. bass — the fish
  23. spell — magic
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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