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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: craft · trunk · hand · face · chair · band · present · land

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. present — a gift
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. craft — a skill
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. hand — help
  7. land — ground
  8. land — to come down
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. band — a music group
  11. face — to point toward
  12. face — to confront
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. craft — boats
  15. chair — a leader
  16. face — part of the head
  17. present — there
  18. hand — in cards
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. present — the time now
  24. land — a country

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