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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: wound · band · kick · ground · track · capital · fall · mark

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. fall — to drop
  3. band — a music group
  4. track — a path
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. mark — a trace
  7. band — a ring
  8. fall — the season
  9. ground — crushed
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. wound — an injury
  12. capital — money
  13. wound — an injury
  14. track — a song
  15. ground — the earth
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. kick — in football
  18. ground — a position
  19. track — to keep track
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. fall — to drop
  24. mark — a grade

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