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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. bulb — for light
  4. rest — what's left
  5. spell — magic
  6. bat — the animal
  7. rest — a break
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. band — a ring
  10. bulb — for light
  11. band — a music group
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. board — a committee
  15. board — to get on
  16. capital — a city
  17. rest — what's left
  18. spell — a short time
  19. row — to paddle
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. capital — money
  23. spell — letters
  24. row — a line

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