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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. club — for golf
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. net — after costs
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. object — to protest
  9. chip — to eat
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. object — a thing
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. club — for dancing
  14. object — an aim
  15. net — in sport
  16. spring — of water
  17. fork — in a road
  18. spring — a coil
  19. band — a music group
  20. club — a group
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. chip — for betting
  23. spring — the season
  24. net — for catching

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