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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 120 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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. track — a song
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. capital — money
  7. lean — to bend
  8. shower — rain
  9. shower — to wash
  10. stock — goods
  11. stock — shares
  12. bulb — for light
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. bulb — for light
  16. band — a ring
  17. lean — thin
  18. capital — a city
  19. track — to keep track
  20. track — a path
  21. bear — the animal
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. bear — the animal

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