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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. spring — the season
  3. bass — the fish
  4. wound — an injury
  5. spring — a coil
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. hand — help
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. wound — an injury
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. spring — of water
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. hand — in cards
  20. band — a music group
  21. date — the fruit
  22. bass — low music
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. hand — part of the body

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