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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: kick · snap · wound · bowl · sharp · band · squash · date

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. sharp — clever
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. kick — in football
  9. band — a ring
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. squash — to crush
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. snap — to click
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. wound — an injury
  21. squash — the sport
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. date — the fruit
  24. wound — an injury

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