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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 was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Would you like some apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. band — a music group
  3. jam — in traffic
  4. mine — for digging
  5. spell — a short time
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. game — wild animals
  9. spring — the season
  10. capital — a city
  11. game — a match
  12. spring — a coil
  13. bear — the animal
  14. bear — the animal
  15. jam — a tight spot
  16. band — a ring
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. spell — letters
  20. spell — magic
  21. capital — money
  22. spring — of water
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. jam — to spread on bread

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