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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: perch · ruler · band · rest · field · snap · capital · pop

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. The people resisted their cruel ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. rest — what's left
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. band — a ring
  7. rest — a break
  8. snap — to click
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. pop — to visit
  11. perch — the fish
  12. field — a subject
  13. capital — a city
  14. pop — music
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. capital — money
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. field — farmland
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. pop — soda
  21. field — for sport
  22. rest — what's left
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. ruler — a monarch

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