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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: spring · snap · band · mine · mark · present · pop · chest

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. mark — a trace
  4. band — a music group
  5. spring — the season
  6. band — a ring
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. chest — a box
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. pop — soda
  11. mark — a grade
  12. pop — music
  13. chest — of your body
  14. mine — for digging
  15. spring — of water
  16. present — the time now
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. snap — to click
  19. chest — of your body
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. present — a gift
  23. pop — to visit
  24. present — there

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