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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 116 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: pit · chip · cold · mouse · wound · mine · band · object

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. band — a ring
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. pit — in a race
  6. cold — not warm
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. object — to protest
  9. band — a music group
  10. mine — for digging
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. cold — an illness
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. chip — to eat
  15. object — an aim
  16. pit — a hole
  17. chip — for betting
  18. object — a thing
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. wound — an injury
  24. mine — an explosive

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