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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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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. band — a ring
  5. mine — for digging
  6. game — wild animals
  7. band — a music group
  8. content — the amount
  9. chip — for betting
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. cell — a phone
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. chip — to eat
  16. content — happy
  17. cell — in biology
  18. game — a match

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