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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: band · wave · mark · capital · fork · kick · fall · present

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. band — a music group
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. fall — to drop
  6. kick — in football
  7. capital — a city
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. fall — to drop
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. capital — money
  14. present — the time now
  15. mark — a grade
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. band — a ring
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. present — there
  22. fork — in a road
  23. mark — a trace
  24. fall — the season

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