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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. mine — for digging
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. rest — what's left
  6. kick — in football
  7. game — a match
  8. rest — a break
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. season — in sport
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. fork — in a road
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. band — a music group
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. season — of the year
  21. rest — what's left
  22. game — wild animals
  23. pound — a weight
  24. mine — belonging to me

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