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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 120 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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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: kid · present · wake · band · lie · cell · wind · capital

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. kid — to tease
  3. present — the time now
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wake — a trail
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. kid — child
  9. lie — to recline
  10. cell — a phone
  11. band — a music group
  12. capital — a city
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. present — a gift
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. capital — money
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. cell — in biology
  23. band — a ring
  24. present — there

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