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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 120 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. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. content — happy
  4. fall — the season
  5. spring — of water
  6. spring — a coil
  7. mark — a trace
  8. spring — the season
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. fall — to drop
  12. band — a ring
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. bat — the animal
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. content — the amount
  17. fall — to drop
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. band — a music group
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. mark — a grade

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