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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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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: bowl · mine · chip · field · band · cap · prune · snap

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. chip — for betting
  4. snap — to click
  5. band — a music group
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. field — for sport
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. prune — to trim
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. chip — to eat
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. cap — a hat
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. mine — for digging
  18. cap — of ice
  19. cap — a lid
  20. field — a subject
  21. field — farmland
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. prune — to trim

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