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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. mark — a trace
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. field — farmland
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. spring — a coil
  9. rush — hurry
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. mark — a grade
  13. board — a committee
  14. field — a subject
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. band — a music group
  17. spring — of water
  18. field — for sport
  19. kid — to tease
  20. board — to get on
  21. kid — child
  22. spring — the season
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. board — a flat piece

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