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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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. net — in sport
  4. club — a group
  5. club — for golf
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. mine — for digging
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. club — for dancing
  10. file — a tool
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. board — a committee
  13. file — a line of people
  14. file — a document
  15. net — for catching
  16. cell — a phone
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. board — to get on
  19. band — a music group
  20. cell — in biology
  21. band — a ring
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. net — after costs
  24. mouse — for a computer

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