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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. capital — a city
  3. capital — money
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. rest — what's left
  6. scale — in music
  7. shower — to wash
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. field — farmland
  12. pass — a permit
  13. rest — a break
  14. band — a ring
  15. scale — size or range
  16. perch — the fish
  17. shower — rain
  18. band — a music group
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. field — for sport
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. field — a subject
  24. rest — what's left

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