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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. band — a music group
  3. field — a subject
  4. field — farmland
  5. mate — a partner
  6. band — a ring
  7. hand — help
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. board — to get on
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. rest — what's left
  13. hand — in cards
  14. field — for sport
  15. pound — a weight
  16. rest — a break
  17. mate — a friend
  18. board — a committee
  19. cell — a phone
  20. mate — to breed
  21. rest — what's left
  22. cell — in biology
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. cell — in a prison

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