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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. field — for sport
  3. band — a music group
  4. last — final
  5. club — a group
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. rock — music
  9. band — a ring
  10. tube — a container
  11. kid — child
  12. rash — hasty
  13. club — for dancing
  14. last — finally
  15. rash — a series
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. field — farmland
  20. field — a subject
  21. rock — a stone
  22. last — to go on
  23. club — for golf
  24. tube — the underground

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