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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: capital · spell · band · roll · game · wind · bulb · ball

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. ball — a great time
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. game — wild animals
  9. spell — a short time
  10. game — a match
  11. band — a ring
  12. wind — moving air
  13. ball — a dance
  14. capital — money
  15. capital — a city
  16. spell — magic
  17. roll — a list
  18. spell — letters
  19. wind — moving air
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. bulb — for light
  23. bulb — for light
  24. band — a music group

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