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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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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: prune · band · pound · capital · plane · row · toast · race

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. band — a ring
  8. race — the arms race
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. capital — money
  11. row — to paddle
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. prune — to trim
  14. pound — a weight
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. prune — to trim
  17. band — a music group
  18. plane — a tool
  19. race — humankind
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. race — a contest
  23. row — a line
  24. toast — bread

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