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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: capital · dip · fork · wound · band · wind · ball · shower

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. capital — a city
  3. band — a music group
  4. ball — a dance
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. wind — moving air
  7. band — a ring
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. capital — money
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. dip — to sink
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. wound — an injury
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. shower — rain
  19. wound — an injury
  20. ball — a great time
  21. shower — to wash
  22. fork — in a road
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. capital — a big letter

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