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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. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. rule — government
  3. band — a ring
  4. march — the month
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. chip — to eat
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. chip — for betting
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wind — moving air
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. firm — a company
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. band — a music group
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. march — music
  18. firm — decided
  19. rule — a law
  20. march — the month
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. capital — a city
  23. capital — money
  24. chip — in a computer

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