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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: band · wind · capital · pass · straw · trunk · shower · bore

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. band — a ring
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. pass — to spend time
  5. bore — to tire
  6. bore — to drill
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. shower — rain
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. wind — moving air
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. capital — money
  20. shower — to wash
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. pass — a permit
  23. band — a music group
  24. wind — moving air

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