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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. mine — for digging
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. band — a music group
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. deal — to handle
  9. track — a song
  10. last — finally
  11. last — to go on
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. track — a path
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. track — to keep track
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. bass — low music
  19. game — wild animals
  20. last — final
  21. bass — the fish
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. game — a match
  24. bass — the instrument

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