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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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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 · wave · mine · snap · kid · cue · ground · game

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. game — a match
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. cue — a signal
  6. cue — a hint
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. ground — crushed
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. ground — the earth
  11. band — a ring
  12. game — wild animals
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. cue — for pool
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. band — a music group
  17. kid — child
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. mine — for digging
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. kid — to tease
  23. ground — a position
  24. snap — to click

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