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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: rule · spell · bat · hand · deal · row · band · leaves

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. rule — government
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. row — to paddle
  6. band — a music group
  7. spell — a short time
  8. spell — letters
  9. spell — magic
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. hand — in cards
  13. deal — to handle
  14. band — a ring
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. rule — a law
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. row — a line
  23. hand — help
  24. deal — an agreement

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