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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. mark — a grade
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. spring — a coil
  5. drill — the tool
  6. band — a ring
  7. spring — of water
  8. band — a music group
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. drill — army training
  11. race — humankind
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. mark — a trace
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. race — the arms race
  16. kid — child
  17. drill — a practice
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. kid — to tease
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. race — a contest
  24. spring — the season

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