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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: mate · wind · object · court · mine · game · band · cap

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. mate — a friend
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. band — a ring
  6. cap — a hat
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. game — a match
  9. object — a thing
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — moving air
  12. object — to protest
  13. mine — for digging
  14. mate — to breed
  15. mate — a partner
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. object — an aim
  18. court — for sport
  19. band — a music group
  20. cap — of ice
  21. court — of law
  22. cap — a lid
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. court — of a king

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