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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. band — a music group
  3. game — wild animals
  4. bat — the animal
  5. lie — to recline
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. charge — a price
  9. can — a tin
  10. game — a match
  11. can — a tin
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. land — a country
  14. wake — a trail
  15. charge — in control
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. land — ground
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. charge — electricity
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. can — to be able to
  24. land — to come down

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