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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: cell · march · band · game · roll · kick · pop · dip

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. pop — music
  3. game — a match
  4. cell — a phone
  5. march — the month
  6. pop — soda
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. band — a ring
  11. roll — a list
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. roll — a cake
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. march — music
  16. dip — to sink
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. cell — in biology
  20. game — wild animals
  21. march — the month
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. pop — to visit
  24. kick — in football

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