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

  1. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. game — a match
  5. rule — government
  6. fall — to drop
  7. fall — the season
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. game — wild animals
  11. bass — the fish
  12. fall — to drop
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. band — a ring
  15. band — a music group
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. rule — a law
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. capital — money
  21. capital — a city
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. bass — low music

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