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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: bound · face · cue · band · roll · chest · spring · club

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. spring — the season
  3. band — a ring
  4. bound — obliged
  5. face — to confront
  6. chest — of your body
  7. bound — tied together
  8. face — part of the head
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. band — a music group
  11. cue — for pool
  12. club — for golf
  13. club — for dancing
  14. chest — of your body
  15. roll — a list
  16. roll — a cake
  17. spring — a coil
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. cue — a signal
  20. spring — of water
  21. chest — a box
  22. club — a group
  23. face — to point toward
  24. bound — certain

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