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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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. plane — a tool
  3. spring — the season
  4. land — ground
  5. game — wild animals
  6. game — a match
  7. mark — a trace
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. chest — of your body
  10. band — a music group
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. land — a country
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. spring — a coil
  16. chest — of your body
  17. mine — for digging
  18. spring — of water
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. band — a ring
  22. land — to come down
  23. chest — a box
  24. mark — a grade

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