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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. net — in sport
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. spring — a coil
  5. land — to come down
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. spring — of water
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. pop — music
  11. land — ground
  12. land — a country
  13. net — after costs
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. sharp — clever
  16. rest — what's left
  17. pop — to visit
  18. pop — soda
  19. spring — the season
  20. band — a ring
  21. rest — what's left
  22. band — a music group
  23. net — for catching
  24. calf — a young animal

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