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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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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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. stand — to bear
  3. capital — a city
  4. spring — the season
  5. band — a music group
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. rash — hasty
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. band — a ring
  15. deal — to handle
  16. branch — a division
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. spring — a coil
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. capital — money
  21. spring — of water
  22. rash — a series
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. racket — a loud noise

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