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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · band · land · arm · jam · kid · fall · ball

  1. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. land — a country
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. fall — to drop
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. land — to come down
  8. game — wild animals
  9. fall — to drop
  10. kid — child
  11. band — a ring
  12. ball — a great time
  13. ball — a dance
  14. fall — the season
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. jam — a tight spot
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. kid — to tease
  20. land — ground
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. game — a match
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. band — a music group

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