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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: hand · bore · lean · pop · cue · band · field · bat

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. field — farmland
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. lean — thin
  5. band — a music group
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. lean — to bend
  8. field — a subject
  9. field — for sport
  10. cue — a signal
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. band — a ring
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bore — to tire
  15. pop — soda
  16. pop — music
  17. bat — the animal
  18. cue — for pool
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. bore — to drill
  21. hand — help
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. cue — a hint
  24. pop — to visit

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