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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. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. chair — a leader
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. cap — a lid
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. band — a music group
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. cap — of ice
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. roll — a cake
  12. cap — a hat
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. sharp — clever
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. bark — to shout
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. bat — the animal
  23. band — a ring
  24. wax — to grow

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