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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. band — a ring
  3. rash — hasty
  4. present — there
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. stand — to bear
  7. rest — a break
  8. rash — a series
  9. rest — what's left
  10. band — a music group
  11. present — the time now
  12. spring — a coil
  13. spring — of water
  14. rest — what's left
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. present — a gift
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. capital — a city
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. spring — the season
  24. band — a rubber band

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