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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: band · swing · row · hand · cap · spell · file · cell

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. cell — in biology
  3. row — a line
  4. hand — in cards
  5. cap — a hat
  6. cap — a lid
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. swing — to play on
  10. row — to paddle
  11. file — a tool
  12. swing — music
  13. file — a document
  14. hand — help
  15. cap — of ice
  16. spell — magic
  17. spell — letters
  18. cell — a phone
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. band — a music group
  21. spell — a short time
  22. swing — in golf
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. band — a ring

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