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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. band — a ring
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. band — a music group
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. lean — to bend
  8. rush — hurry
  9. spring — a coil
  10. spring — of water
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. capital — a city
  13. shower — rain
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. dip — to sink
  18. lean — thin
  19. capital — money
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. spring — the season
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — an injury
  24. shower — to wash

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