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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. band — a music group
  3. spring — a coil
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. field — farmland
  6. band — a ring
  7. drill — the tool
  8. field — for sport
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. snap — to click
  12. field — a subject
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. firm — steady
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. firm — a company
  20. spring — of water
  21. spring — the season
  22. drill — a practice
  23. drill — army training
  24. firm — decided

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