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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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Word bank
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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: capital · wave · band · patient · bowl · wind

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. capital — a city
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. band — a music group
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. capital — money
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. band — a ring
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. wind — moving air

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