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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: land · kid · capital · board · bulb · hand · band · rash

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. capital — a city
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. rash — hasty
  5. kid — to tease
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. bulb — for light
  9. hand — help
  10. capital — money
  11. band — a music group
  12. band — a ring
  13. land — ground
  14. land — to come down
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. board — to get on
  17. land — a country
  18. bulb — for light
  19. board — a committee
  20. rash — a series
  21. kid — child
  22. hand — in cards
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. bulb — of a plant

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