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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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468
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: band · capital · spell · rush · ball · bat · perch · stem

  1. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. ball — a dance
  4. band — a music group
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. rush — hurry
  7. bat — the animal
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. spell — magic
  15. capital — a city
  16. capital — money
  17. stem — to come from
  18. band — a ring
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. ball — a great time
  22. perch — the fish
  23. spell — letters
  24. rush — to hurry

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