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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: mark · band · kid · last · field · mine · present · row

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. field — a subject
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. mine — for digging
  7. band — a ring
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. last — final
  10. field — farmland
  11. mark — a trace
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. row — to paddle
  14. field — for sport
  15. last — to go on
  16. present — the time now
  17. last — finally
  18. present — there
  19. row — a line
  20. band — a music group
  21. present — a gift
  22. mark — a grade
  23. kid — child
  24. kid — to tease

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