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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. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. wax — to grow
  3. band — a music group
  4. bound — certain
  5. bound — obliged
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. bound — tied together
  8. field — for sport
  9. club — for dancing
  10. band — a ring
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. field — farmland
  13. club — for golf
  14. ground — the earth
  15. field — a subject
  16. chip — for betting
  17. spring — the season
  18. ground — a position
  19. spring — a coil
  20. ground — crushed
  21. club — a group
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. spring — of water

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