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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: kick · lean · perch · band · cell · capital

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. cell — in biology
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. band — a music group
  7. lean — to bend
  8. capital — a city
  9. band — a ring
  10. cell — a phone
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. lean — thin
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. capital — money
  17. kick — in football
  18. perch — the fish

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