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

Word bank: kid · band · row · mine · tear · club · lean · ball

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. lean — to bend
  3. tear — from crying
  4. club — a group
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. ball — a great time
  7. tear — from crying
  8. band — a music group
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. mine — for digging
  11. lean — thin
  12. ball — a dance
  13. club — for golf
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. tear — to rip
  16. kid — child
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. club — for dancing
  19. row — a line
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. row — to paddle
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. band — a ring
  24. kid — to tease

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