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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. track — a song
  3. spring — the season
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. band — a ring
  6. chest — of your body
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. club — for dancing
  9. track — to keep track
  10. track — a path
  11. fork — in a road
  12. club — for golf
  13. spring — a coil
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. mine — for digging
  16. ground — the earth
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. ground — a position
  19. chest — of your body
  20. spring — of water
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. club — a group
  23. ground — crushed
  24. chest — a box

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