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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 120 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: band · cold · last · craft · tear · capital

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. tear — from crying
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. craft — boats
  6. tear — from crying
  7. band — a ring
  8. capital — a city
  9. cold — not warm
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. band — a music group
  12. cold — an illness
  13. last — final
  14. last — finally
  15. last — to go on
  16. craft — a skill
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. tear — to rip

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