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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. ground — the earth
  4. band — a music group
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. ground — crushed
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. row — to paddle
  12. band — a ring
  13. cold — an illness
  14. ball — a great time
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. row — a line
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. ball — a dance
  19. cold — not warm
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. mark — a trace
  22. snap — to click
  23. mark — a grade
  24. cold — the Cold War

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