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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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. band — a ring
  3. track — to keep track
  4. track — a song
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. track — a path
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. date — the fruit
  9. mine — for digging
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. hand — help
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. roll — a cake
  20. band — a music group
  21. hand — in cards
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. roll — a list
  24. straw — dry grass

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