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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. file — a line of people
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. deal — to handle
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. capital — a city
  10. file — a document
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. band — a ring
  13. plane — a tool
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. capital — money
  20. file — a tool
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. wind — moving air

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