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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
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: game · capital · toast · band · spell · straw · file · club

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. capital — money
  3. club — for dancing
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. toast — bread
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. capital — a city
  10. band — a ring
  11. game — a match
  12. game — wild animals
  13. file — a document
  14. spell — letters
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. spell — magic
  17. club — a group
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. band — a music group
  20. file — a line of people
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. spell — a short time
  24. club — for golf

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