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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. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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. patient — a sick person
  4. pop — soda
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. pop — music
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. pop — to visit
  11. band — a ring
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. band — a music group
  17. bore — to tire
  18. bat — the animal
  19. bore — to drill
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. game — a match
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. game — wild animals
  24. bore — gave birth

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