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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: race · wind · band · mark · track · capital · board · spring

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. spring — of water
  3. mark — a trace
  4. mark — a grade
  5. track — a path
  6. capital — money
  7. board — to get on
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. track — to keep track
  10. race — humankind
  11. wind — moving air
  12. race — a contest
  13. band — a ring
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. spring — a coil
  16. wind — moving air
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. spring — the season
  19. capital — a city
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. race — the arms race
  22. band — a music group
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. track — a song

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