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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. spell — a short time
  3. bound — certain
  4. bat — the animal
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. spell — magic
  8. capital — a city
  9. pound — a weight
  10. capital — money
  11. band — a ring
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. swing — music
  15. bound — obliged
  16. snap — to click
  17. spell — letters
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. bound — tied together
  20. band — a music group
  21. swing — in golf
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. swing — to play on

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