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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. band — a ring
  3. object — a thing
  4. band — a music group
  5. object — an aim
  6. track — a path
  7. present — a gift
  8. land — a country
  9. track — a song
  10. track — to keep track
  11. object — to protest
  12. mine — for digging
  13. bound — obliged
  14. land — to come down
  15. bound — certain
  16. present — there
  17. bound — tied together
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. land — ground
  20. field — farmland
  21. field — for sport
  22. present — the time now
  23. field — a subject
  24. mine — belonging to me

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