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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. bat — the animal
  3. spell — a short time
  4. firm — decided
  5. capital — a city
  6. lean — to bend
  7. firm — a company
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. game — wild animals
  12. rest — a break
  13. spell — letters
  14. rest — what's left
  15. game — a match
  16. firm — steady
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. spell — magic
  19. band — a music group
  20. rest — what's left
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. capital — money
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. lean — thin

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