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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · deal · racket · pop · game · march · content · row

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. band — a ring
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. game — a match
  5. deal — to handle
  6. pop — soda
  7. march — the month
  8. row — a line
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. march — music
  13. content — the amount
  14. pop — music
  15. game — wild animals
  16. row — to paddle
  17. band — a music group
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. pop — to visit
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. march — the month
  24. game — a kind of play

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