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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 116 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: ground · mine · cell · lash · band · track · mark · hand

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. mine — for digging
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. mark — a grade
  6. cell — a phone
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. track — to keep track
  9. hand — in cards
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. track — a song
  12. ground — a position
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. ground — crushed
  15. track — a path
  16. band — a ring
  17. cell — in biology
  18. hand — help
  19. mark — a trace
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. ground — the earth
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. lash — an eyelash

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