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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: tear · band · bowl · chest · bound · capital · spell · row

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. band — a music group
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. bound — tied together
  5. spell — magic
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. capital — a city
  8. tear — from crying
  9. spell — a short time
  10. bound — obliged
  11. spell — letters
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. tear — to rip
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. row — a line
  16. chest — a box
  17. row — to paddle
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. tear — from crying
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. chest — of your body
  22. band — a ring
  23. bound — certain
  24. capital — money

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