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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. spring — of water
  3. game — wild animals
  4. spring — a coil
  5. mine — for digging
  6. pound — a weight
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. spring — the season
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. band — a ring
  13. kid — child
  14. kid — to tease
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. game — a match
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. game — a kind of play

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