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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: band · last · cell · chair · net · wind

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. last — finally
  4. last — to go on
  5. band — a music group
  6. net — in sport
  7. net — for catching
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. net — after costs
  10. cell — in biology
  11. last — final
  12. cell — a phone
  13. chair — a leader
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. wind — moving air
  17. band — a ring
  18. wind — moving air

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