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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. land — ground
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. wake — a trail
  5. band — a ring
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. face — to point toward
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. chip — for betting
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. game — a match
  12. land — a country
  13. wax — to grow
  14. band — a music group
  15. face — to confront
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. face — part of the head
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. fork — in a road
  21. game — wild animals
  22. land — to come down
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. chip — to eat

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