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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
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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: chest · game · file · band · wave · capital · roll · bat

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. file — a tool
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. game — wild animals
  6. chest — of your body
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. game — a match
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. roll — a cake
  13. chest — a box
  14. band — a music group
  15. file — a line of people
  16. capital — a city
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. bat — the animal
  19. roll — a list
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. file — a document
  22. chest — of your body
  23. band — a ring
  24. game — a kind of play

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