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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: rock · ball · clip · bat · band · chest · racket · cap

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. clip — for paper
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. band — a ring
  8. chest — of your body
  9. ball — a dance
  10. rock — music
  11. chest — a box
  12. chest — of your body
  13. cap — of ice
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. clip — a video
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. rock — a stone
  18. clip — to cut
  19. bat — the animal
  20. ball — a great time
  21. band — a music group
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. cap — a hat
  24. racket — a loud noise

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