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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: file · wave · sharp · band · club · lie · cell · field

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with 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. cell — in a prison
  2. club — for dancing
  3. band — a music group
  4. club — a group
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. field — for sport
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. field — a subject
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. club — for golf
  11. sharp — clever
  12. band — a ring
  13. cell — a phone
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. lie — to recline
  17. file — a document
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. field — farmland
  20. file — a line of people
  21. cell — in biology
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. file — a tool
  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