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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. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. kid — to tease
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. band — a music group
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. stock — goods
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. object — to protest
  10. snap — to click
  11. kid — child
  12. object — a thing
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. game — a match
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. stock — shares
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. object — an aim
  20. fork — in a road
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. game — wild animals
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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