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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: spring · hand · band · row · cap · capital · rock · bear

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. hand — help
  5. cap — a hat
  6. spring — the season
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. rock — a stone
  9. cap — a lid
  10. band — a music group
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. bear — the animal
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. bear — the animal
  15. hand — in cards
  16. rock — music
  17. spring — of water
  18. capital — money
  19. capital — a city
  20. spring — a coil
  21. band — a ring
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. row — a line
  24. row — to paddle

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