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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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. band — a music group
  3. band — a ring
  4. march — music
  5. kick — in football
  6. game — a match
  7. game — wild animals
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. swing — in golf
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. mine — for digging
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. swing — music
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. swing — to play on
  22. march — the month
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. march — the month

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