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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 124 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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. band — a music group
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. pop — soda
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. wake — a trail
  9. kid — to tease
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. snap — to click
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. kid — child
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. content — happy
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. pop — to visit
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. content — the amount
  24. pop — music

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