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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 · band · safe · craft · ground · wind · spring · bat

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Is it ________________ for us to be here?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. wind — moving air
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. capital — money
  5. band — a music group
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. bat — the animal
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. band — a ring
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. safe — out of danger
  12. spring — of water
  13. craft — a skill
  14. ground — a position
  15. safe — a strongbox
  16. ground — crushed
  17. spring — the season
  18. craft — boats
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. wind — moving air
  21. capital — a city
  22. ground — the earth
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. safe — out of danger

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