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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 120 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: rash · club · march · face · band · wind · mug · cap

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. mug — a cup
  3. band — a ring
  4. club — a group
  5. face — part of the head
  6. face — to confront
  7. wind — moving air
  8. march — the month
  9. mug — to rob
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. face — to point toward
  12. cap — a hat
  13. march — the month
  14. wind — moving air
  15. cap — a lid
  16. club — for dancing
  17. mug — a face
  18. rash — hasty
  19. band — a music group
  20. cap — of ice
  21. rash — a series
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. march — music
  24. wind — to turn a key

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