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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 116 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: ball · game · row · kid · swing · band · pound · bank

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. swing — to play on
  3. ball — a great time
  4. bank — of a river
  5. row — a line
  6. swing — music
  7. band — a music group
  8. game — wild animals
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. bank — for money
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. ball — a dance
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. bank — for money
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. swing — in golf
  18. row — to paddle
  19. kid — to tease
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. pound — a weight
  23. band — a ring
  24. kid — child

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