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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 reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. chest — a box
  5. chest — of your body
  6. band — a ring
  7. bound — obliged
  8. club — for golf
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. chest — of your body
  11. band — a music group
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. game — wild animals
  14. bound — certain
  15. bat — the animal
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. club — a group
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. game — a match
  21. ball — a dance
  22. ball — a great time
  23. dip — to sink
  24. club — for dancing

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