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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 · band · file · shower · rock · scale · spell

  1. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. spell — magic
  3. band — a music group
  4. shower — rain
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. capital — money
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. dip — to sink
  10. shower — to wash
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. spell — a short time
  13. file — a document
  14. scale — in music
  15. rock — music
  16. file — a line of people
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. file — a tool
  19. spell — letters
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. capital — a city
  23. band — a ring
  24. rock — a stone

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