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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: bat · band · stick · chip · spring · shower · deal · march

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. spring — the season
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. march — the month
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. deal — to handle
  10. shower — rain
  11. bat — the animal
  12. shower — to wash
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. march — the month
  15. chip — to eat
  16. band — a music group
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. march — music
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. spring — of water
  21. chip — for betting
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. spring — a coil

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