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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: band · staff · calf · wake · ball · pitcher · content · spring

  1. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. band — a music group
  3. staff — employees
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. spring — the season
  6. content — happy
  7. wake — a trail
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. staff — employees
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. staff — a stick
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. ball — a great time
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. content — the amount
  20. spring — of water
  21. spring — a coil
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. band — a ring

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