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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. wound — an injury
  3. plane — a tool
  4. wind — moving air
  5. cell — a phone
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. cap — a lid
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. court — of law
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. wound — an injury
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. wind — moving air
  14. charge — electricity
  15. court — for sport
  16. band — a music group
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. charge — a price
  19. cap — of ice
  20. court — of a king
  21. charge — in control
  22. cell — in biology
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. cap — a hat

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