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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. hand — help
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. cold — an illness
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. hand — in cards
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. capital — money
  18. band — a ring
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. cold — not warm
  22. capital — a city
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. band — a rubber band

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