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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: shower · rock · band · bowl · capital · net · last · tear

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. tear — from crying
  3. band — a music group
  4. shower — rain
  5. net — after costs
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. rock — music
  8. tear — from crying
  9. rock — a stone
  10. capital — a city
  11. net — in sport
  12. tear — to rip
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. capital — money
  15. last — final
  16. last — to go on
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. net — for catching
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. shower — to wash
  24. last — finally

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