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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: capital · band · fall · cold · present · rule · wind · vault

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. capital — money
  3. capital — a city
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. present — there
  6. wind — moving air
  7. rule — a law
  8. present — a gift
  9. wind — moving air
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. rule — government
  12. fall — the season
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. cold — not warm
  15. present — the time now
  16. band — a music group
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. fall — to drop
  19. fall — to drop
  20. vault — a safe
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. cold — an illness

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