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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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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: last · fall · band · scale · arm · cap · row · swing

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. last — final
  4. swing — to play on
  5. band — a ring
  6. cap — a lid
  7. scale — in music
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. fall — to drop
  10. row — a line
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. band — a music group
  13. last — finally
  14. cap — a hat
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. cap — of ice
  18. swing — music
  19. row — to paddle
  20. last — to go on
  21. scale — size or range
  22. swing — in golf
  23. fall — the season
  24. arm — part of the body

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