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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. mine — for digging
  3. row — a line
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. last — final
  6. spring — of water
  7. spring — a coil
  8. last — finally
  9. band — a ring
  10. charge — electricity
  11. charge — in control
  12. present — there
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. game — wild animals
  15. present — the time now
  16. spring — the season
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. last — to go on
  20. row — to paddle
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. game — a match
  23. band — a music group
  24. charge — a price

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