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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. squash — the sport
  3. present — a gift
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. present — there
  6. kid — to tease
  7. bark — to shout
  8. kid — child
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. mine — for digging
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. ball — a dance
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. present — the time now
  18. squash — to crush
  19. track — to keep track
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. track — a path
  22. track — a song
  23. band — a ring
  24. ball — a great time

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