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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. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. mark — a grade
  3. ground — crushed
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. track — a path
  6. spring — of water
  7. mark — a trace
  8. track — a song
  9. spring — the season
  10. saw — the tool
  11. spring — a coil
  12. band — a ring
  13. track — to keep track
  14. fork — in a road
  15. saw — the tool
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. ground — a position
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. band — a music group
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. ground — the earth
  22. cold — an illness
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. cold — not warm

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