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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: craft · present · band · rest · capital · cap

  1. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. band — a music group
  3. present — a gift
  4. craft — boats
  5. cap — of ice
  6. rest — what's left
  7. cap — a hat
  8. capital — money
  9. present — there
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. present — the time now
  14. rest — a break
  15. cap — a lid
  16. band — a ring
  17. rest — what's left
  18. capital — a city

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