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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: ruler · roll · band · bowl · chest · wake · clip · charge

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. charge — electricity
  3. roll — a cake
  4. clip — a video
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. chest — of your body
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. chest — of your body
  10. roll — a list
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. charge — in control
  16. wake — a trail
  17. clip — to cut
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. clip — for paper
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. band — a music group
  23. chest — a box
  24. charge — a price

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