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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: march · band · wind · perch · hand · jam · content · cap

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. band — a music group
  4. march — the month
  5. cap — of ice
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. march — music
  8. hand — in cards
  9. perch — the fish
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. hand — help
  12. cap — a lid
  13. wind — moving air
  14. cap — a hat
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. band — a ring
  17. content — the amount
  18. jam — to spread on bread
  19. wind — moving air
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. content — happy
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. band — a rubber band

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