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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: hand · capital · pop · object · band · field · spring · bank

  1. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. object — to protest
  4. bank — for money
  5. pop — soda
  6. field — a subject
  7. pop — music
  8. spring — a coil
  9. field — for sport
  10. bank — of a river
  11. band — a music group
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. pop — to visit
  14. field — farmland
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. capital — money
  17. band — a ring
  18. capital — a city
  19. spring — the season
  20. object — a thing
  21. hand — help
  22. hand — in cards
  23. spring — of water
  24. object — an aim

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