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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 · club · cold · ruler · last · wind

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. club — a group
  7. cold — not warm
  8. last — to go on
  9. wind — moving air
  10. band — a music group
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. last — final
  14. band — a ring
  15. club — for golf
  16. club — for dancing
  17. cold — an illness
  18. 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