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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: cue · saw · ball · deal · band · bat · march · kid

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. cue — a hint
  3. band — a ring
  4. saw — the tool
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. ball — a dance
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. band — a music group
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. saw — the tool
  11. ball — a great time
  12. kid — child
  13. bat — the animal
  14. march — music
  15. march — the month
  16. march — the month
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. cue — a signal
  19. cue — for pool
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. kid — to tease
  24. deal — to handle

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