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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: game · rush · band · wound · branch · lean · bowl · capital

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. rush — hurry
  4. capital — a city
  5. band — a ring
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. band — a music group
  9. capital — money
  10. wound — an injury
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. lean — to bend
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. branch — a division
  19. game — a match
  20. game — wild animals
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. lean — thin
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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