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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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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: band · bound · swing · row · ball · wake · pitcher · land

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. land — to come down
  4. swing — music
  5. ball — a dance
  6. row — a line
  7. swing — in golf
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. bound — certain
  10. wake — a trail
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. row — to paddle
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. swing — to play on
  15. band — a music group
  16. bound — obliged
  17. land — a country
  18. land — ground
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. band — a ring
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. bound — tied together

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