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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 120 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: rash · wake · ball · spell · land · band · stick · branch

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. land — ground
  3. rash — hasty
  4. ball — a dance
  5. ball — a great time
  6. spell — letters
  7. spell — magic
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. land — to come down
  11. land — a country
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. branch — a division
  14. band — a ring
  15. spell — a short time
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. rash — a series
  18. wake — a trail
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. band — a music group
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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