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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. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. game — a match
  3. mate — a partner
  4. mate — to breed
  5. prune — to trim
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. prune — to trim
  9. game — wild animals
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. wound — an injury
  12. swing — in golf
  13. ball — a great time
  14. swing — music
  15. wound — an injury
  16. ball — a dance
  17. mate — a friend
  18. fine — high quality
  19. fine — all right
  20. swing — to play on
  21. band — a music group
  22. band — a ring
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. game — a kind of play

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