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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. prune — to trim
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. kid — child
  6. court — for sport
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. prune — to trim
  10. wind — moving air
  11. court — of law
  12. branch — a division
  13. band — a music group
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. rock — music
  16. court — of a king
  17. kid — to tease
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. rock — a stone
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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