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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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Word bank
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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: land · band · sharp · ruler · rash · bat · file · season

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. season — of the year
  3. band — a ring
  4. bat — the animal
  5. file — a document
  6. sharp — clever
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. rash — hasty
  10. season — in sport
  11. band — a music group
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. land — to come down
  16. land — a country
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. file — a line of people
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. file — a tool
  23. rash — a series
  24. season — to add flavour

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