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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 116 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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. band — a ring
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. stand — to bear
  6. shower — rain
  7. capital — a city
  8. present — there
  9. row — a line
  10. band — a music group
  11. shower — to wash
  12. capital — money
  13. spring — of water
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. spring — the season
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. present — a gift
  19. spring — a coil
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. row — to paddle
  24. stand — for spectators

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