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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 116 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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  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. capital — a city
  2. band — a music group
  3. capital — money
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. club — a group
  6. ruler — a monarch
  7. ball — a great time
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. row — a line
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. band — a ring
  12. row — to paddle
  13. fork — in a road
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. ball — a dance
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. club — for dancing
  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