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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. band — a ring
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. cap — a hat
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. field — a subject
  7. band — a music group
  8. cap — of ice
  9. field — for sport
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. content — happy
  13. rash — a series
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. rash — hasty
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. field — farmland
  19. branch — a division
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. content — the amount
  22. court — of a king
  23. court — for sport
  24. court — of law

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