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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. spring — of water
  3. tube — a container
  4. spring — the season
  5. spring — a coil
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. rest — a break
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. bass — low music
  11. tube — the underground
  12. court — of a king
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. court — for sport
  15. hand — help
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. hand — in cards
  18. rest — what's left
  19. deal — to handle
  20. band — a ring
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. rest — what's left
  23. court — of law
  24. band — a music group

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