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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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. land — a country
  3. scale — in music
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. content — happy
  6. content — the amount
  7. land — to come down
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. band — a ring
  10. game — a match
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. rash — a series
  13. game — wild animals
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. branch — a division
  20. land — ground
  21. scale — size or range
  22. band — a music group
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. rash — hasty

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