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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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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 · ruler · last · shower · band · rule

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. last — to go on
  3. capital — money
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. last — finally
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. band — a ring
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. last — final
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. rule — government
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. shower — to wash
  15. shower — rain
  16. band — a music group
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. rule — a law

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