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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. wind — moving air
  3. band — a music group
  4. tear — to rip
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. wind — moving air
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. tear — from crying
  9. scale — size or range
  10. capital — a city
  11. scale — in music
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. rush — hurry
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. bear — the animal
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. rash — hasty
  19. tear — from crying
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. rash — a series
  22. bear — the animal
  23. capital — money
  24. rush — a thrill

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