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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
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: ball · staff · capital · wind · stem · file · game · band

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. ball — a great time
  3. file — a line of people
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. band — a ring
  6. file — a tool
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. file — a document
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. stem — to come from
  13. wind — moving air
  14. band — a music group
  15. staff — employees
  16. game — wild animals
  17. ball — a dance
  18. game — a match
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. staff — employees
  21. capital — a city
  22. capital — money
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. staff — a stick

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