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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: file · band · staff · hand · toast · capital · bulb · game

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. file — a document
  4. file — a line of people
  5. staff — employees
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. capital — a city
  8. bulb — for light
  9. bulb — for light
  10. staff — a stick
  11. staff — employees
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. capital — money
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. game — a match
  16. hand — in cards
  17. file — a tool
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. game — wild animals
  20. band — a music group
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. toast — bread
  23. band — a ring
  24. band — a rubber band

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