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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: game · hand · band · mine · scale · temple

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. band — a music group
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. mine — for digging
  6. game — wild animals
  7. game — a match
  8. scale — size or range
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. scale — in music
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. band — a ring
  16. hand — in cards
  17. hand — help
  18. mine — an explosive

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