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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. ball — a dance
  3. fine — all right
  4. kid — child
  5. kid — to tease
  6. bat — the animal
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. chip — for betting
  9. spring — the season
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. fine — high quality
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. chip — to eat
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. spring — of water
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. ball — a great time
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. band — a ring
  23. band — a music group
  24. bat — for baseball

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