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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 120 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: club · spring · swing · kid · mine · band · fine · wax

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. kid — to tease
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. band — a ring
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. club — for dancing
  8. wax — to grow
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. fine — high quality
  11. club — for golf
  12. band — a music group
  13. spring — of water
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. swing — to play on
  16. mine — for digging
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. spring — the season
  19. spring — a coil
  20. club — a group
  21. swing — in golf
  22. fine — all right
  23. swing — music
  24. kid — child

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