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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: band · capital · wake · drill · game · chip · trunk · ruler

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. drill — the tool
  5. band — a music group
  6. chip — for betting
  7. capital — money
  8. chip — to eat
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. game — a match
  12. game — wild animals
  13. wake — a trail
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. band — a ring
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. drill — army training
  19. drill — a practice
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. capital — a city
  22. ruler — a monarch
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. chip — in a computer

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