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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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. rest — a break
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. band — a music group
  6. rest — what's left
  7. rest — what's left
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. capital — money
  10. court — for sport
  11. last — final
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. ruler — a monarch
  16. court — of a king
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. last — to go on
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. band — a ring
  21. court — of law
  22. wax — to grow
  23. capital — a city
  24. last — finally

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