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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: pitch · game · band · snap · branch · dip · mine · spring

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. mine — for digging
  5. game — a match
  6. snap — to click
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. spring — of water
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. dip — to sink
  12. spring — the season
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. spring — a coil
  16. band — a ring
  17. band — a music group
  18. pitch — completely
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. game — wild animals
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. branch — a division

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