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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 124 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  2. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. 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. foot — part of the body
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. mine — for digging
  4. band — a music group
  5. game — wild animals
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. file — a document
  8. foot — a measure
  9. game — a match
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. shower — to wash
  12. file — a line of people
  13. band — a ring
  14. file — a tool
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. shower — rain
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. 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