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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: hand · band · chip · chest · court · ruler · wake · land

  1. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — for measuring
  2. band — a ring
  3. court — of law
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. chest — a box
  6. wake — a trail
  7. chip — to eat
  8. hand — help
  9. hand — in cards
  10. band — a music group
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. chest — of your body
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. land — to come down
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. land — a country
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. court — of a king
  20. land — ground
  21. chip — for betting
  22. court — for sport
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. hand — 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