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

Word bank: band · chest · stick · file · mate · cell · march · mark

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. mate — a friend
  3. cell — a phone
  4. mate — to breed
  5. file — a line of people
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. chest — of your body
  8. file — a tool
  9. mate — a partner
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. band — a music group
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. chest — of your body
  15. march — the month
  16. chest — a box
  17. file — a document
  18. band — a ring
  19. cell — in biology
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. mark — a grade
  22. march — the month
  23. mark — a trace
  24. march — music

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