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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. mine — for digging
  3. hand — in cards
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. band — a music group
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. content — the amount
  10. spring — the season
  11. stand — to bear
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. band — a ring
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. spring — a coil
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. content — happy
  19. track — to keep track
  20. hand — help
  21. track — a path
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. spring — of water
  24. leaves — to go away

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