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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. band — a music group
  3. pop — soda
  4. field — farmland
  5. band — a ring
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. pop — to visit
  9. object — an aim
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. ground — crushed
  12. field — for sport
  13. ground — the earth
  14. object — a thing
  15. tube — a container
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. ground — a position
  18. field — a subject
  19. tube — the underground
  20. hand — help
  21. hand — in cards
  22. pop — music
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. calf — a young animal

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