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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 120 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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. track — to keep track
  3. mine — for digging
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. spring — of water
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. degree — temperature
  8. track — a song
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. spring — a coil
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. track — a path
  15. degree — from a university
  16. kid — child
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. band — a ring
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. kid — to tease
  22. spring — the season
  23. degree — an amount
  24. mouse — the animal

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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