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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. club — for golf
  3. band — a ring
  4. cold — an illness
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. ball — a dance
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. land — ground
  11. land — to come down
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. mine — for digging
  14. club — a group
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. band — a music group
  18. club — for dancing
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. ball — a great time
  21. wake — a trail
  22. cold — not warm
  23. land — a country
  24. hide — to keep secret

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