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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. rest — what's left
  3. drill — a practice
  4. file — a line of people
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. board — to get on
  8. board — a committee
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. drill — army training
  12. rest — a break
  13. band — a music group
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. band — a ring
  16. file — a tool
  17. capital — a city
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. capital — money
  21. file — a document
  22. drill — the tool
  23. rest — what's left
  24. wake — a trail

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