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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 · roll · game · craft · squash · band · stem · drill

  1. We're on a ________________ here.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — on a roll
  2. roll — a list
  3. band — a ring
  4. stem — to come from
  5. craft — a skill
  6. roll — a cake
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. drill — army training
  9. capital — a city
  10. capital — money
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. squash — the sport
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. squash — to crush
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. game — a match
  18. craft — boats
  19. drill — the tool
  20. drill — a practice
  21. game — wild animals
  22. band — a music group
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. game — a kind of play

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