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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. court — for sport
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. track — a path
  5. snap — to click
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. drill — a practice
  13. drill — the tool
  14. drill — army training
  15. track — a song
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. court — of law
  18. court — of a king
  19. band — a ring
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. bat — the animal
  22. kick — in football
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. track — to keep track

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