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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 120 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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. row — to paddle
  3. band — a ring
  4. pop — to visit
  5. pop — music
  6. can — a tin
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. row — a line
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. content — happy
  15. content — the amount
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. can — to be able to
  19. can — a tin
  20. mine — for digging
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. band — a music group

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