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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: mine · band · prune · charge · cold · bass · kid · pop

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. band — a ring
  5. pop — soda
  6. charge — electricity
  7. bass — the fish
  8. charge — a price
  9. cold — not warm
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. prune — to trim
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. bass — low music
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. kid — child
  16. charge — in control
  17. kid — to tease
  18. cold — an illness
  19. prune — to trim
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. band — a music group
  23. pop — music
  24. pop — to visit

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