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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 116 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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. land — ground
  3. spring — a coil
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. mate — a friend
  6. track — to keep track
  7. snap — to click
  8. band — a music group
  9. spring — of water
  10. spring — the season
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. land — a country
  14. kid — to tease
  15. land — to come down
  16. mate — to breed
  17. kid — child
  18. band — a ring
  19. track — a song
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. wind — moving air
  22. mate — a partner
  23. wind — moving air
  24. track — a path

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