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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: band · bat · rush · hide · deal · row · kick · ground

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. ground — the earth
  8. ground — a position
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. ground — crushed
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. deal — to handle
  13. kick — in football
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. band — a ring
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. row — a line
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. rush — hurry
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. bat — the animal
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. row — to paddle

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