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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: capital · jam · row · band · game · calf · snap · face

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. band — a music group
  3. jam — a tight spot
  4. face — to confront
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. row — a line
  7. face — part of the head
  8. capital — a city
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. face — to point toward
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. jam — in traffic
  13. row — to paddle
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. capital — money
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. band — a ring
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. game — a match
  21. game — wild animals
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. calf — a young animal

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