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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: band · perch · wind · game · ground · cap · saw · plane

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. cap — of ice
  3. game — a match
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. game — wild animals
  7. band — a ring
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. ground — crushed
  10. cap — a hat
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. plane — a tool
  13. cap — a lid
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. perch — the fish
  17. wind — moving air
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. saw — the tool
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. ground — a position
  22. wind — moving air
  23. saw — the tool
  24. ground — the earth

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