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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: ground · bound · ball · pitcher · straw · band · trunk · foot

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. band — a music group
  3. bound — obliged
  4. ground — a position
  5. ball — a great time
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. band — a ring
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. ground — the earth
  11. foot — a measure
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. ground — crushed
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. bound — certain
  17. ball — a dance
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. bound — tied together
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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