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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. kid — child
  3. spring — a coil
  4. spring — of water
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. net — for catching
  8. game — wild animals
  9. net — after costs
  10. hand — in cards
  11. toast — bread
  12. hand — help
  13. spring — the season
  14. net — in sport
  15. band — a ring
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. kid — to tease
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. stock — shares
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. game — a match
  23. toast — the most admired
  24. stock — goods

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