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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 was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. mine — for digging
  3. field — a subject
  4. game — wild animals
  5. band — a music group
  6. content — happy
  7. band — a ring
  8. pound — a weight
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. firm — steady
  12. field — farmland
  13. bank — for money
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. firm — decided
  16. firm — a company
  17. game — a match
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. field — for sport
  21. bank — for money
  22. bank — of a river
  23. content — the amount
  24. game — a kind of play

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