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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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. key — the most important part
  3. hand — in cards
  4. staff — a stick
  5. mine — for digging
  6. spring — a coil
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. row — to paddle
  10. hand — help
  11. track — to keep track
  12. band — a music group
  13. spring — of water
  14. spring — the season
  15. track — a song
  16. staff — employees
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. row — a line
  19. key — in music
  20. key — for a lock
  21. band — a ring
  22. staff — employees
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. track — a path

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