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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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468
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: band · chest · mouse · racket · prune · wound · pop · row

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. band — a music group
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. pop — to visit
  9. chest — a box
  10. band — a ring
  11. chest — of your body
  12. wound — an injury
  13. row — a line
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. wound — an injury
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. chest — of your body
  18. prune — to trim
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. prune — to trim
  21. pop — music
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. row — to paddle
  24. mouse — the animal

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