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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: fan · bound · last · band · jam · file · chest · rest

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. jam — in traffic
  3. last — finally
  4. band — a ring
  5. jam — to spread on bread
  6. bound — obliged
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. file — a tool
  9. band — a music group
  10. chest — of your body
  11. rest — a break
  12. bound — certain
  13. file — a document
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. jam — a tight spot
  17. rest — what's left
  18. chest — of your body
  19. last — to go on
  20. bound — tied together
  21. file — a line of people
  22. rest — what's left
  23. chest — a box
  24. band — a rubber band

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