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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 · patient · band · scale · ball · mine · rule · saw

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. ball — a great time
  6. band — a ring
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. saw — the tool
  9. band — a music group
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. mine — for digging
  15. saw — the tool
  16. game — wild animals
  17. ball — a dance
  18. scale — size or range
  19. scale — in music
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. rule — a law
  23. game — a match
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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