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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. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  8. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  9. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. band — a music group
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. kid — child
  7. safe — a strongbox
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. bear — the animal
  13. field — for sport
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. field — a subject
  16. kid — to tease
  17. bear — the animal
  18. row — to paddle
  19. field — farmland
  20. band — a ring
  21. row — a line
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. mine — for digging

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