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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: patient · prune · mine · swing · game · band · perch · racket

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. prune — to trim
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. prune — to trim
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. band — a music group
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. game — a match
  15. game — wild animals
  16. swing — to play on
  17. mine — for digging
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. swing — music
  20. perch — the fish
  21. band — a ring
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. swing — in golf
  24. racket — for tennis

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