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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: cell · band · ground · deal · pop · hand · bat · snap

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. pop — to visit
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. band — a ring
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. cell — in biology
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. pop — music
  9. snap — to click
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. band — a music group
  13. cell — a phone
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. pop — soda
  16. ground — a position
  17. deal — to handle
  18. hand — in cards
  19. hand — help
  20. ground — crushed
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. ground — the earth
  24. deal — a big deal

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