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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: pit · fall · band · shower · mug · bound · capital · hand

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. hand — in cards
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. bound — tied together
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. bound — obliged
  7. shower — to wash
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. mug — to rob
  10. mug — a cup
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. band — a ring
  13. mug — a face
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. hand — help
  16. capital — a city
  17. capital — money
  18. fall — to drop
  19. shower — rain
  20. fall — to drop
  21. pit — a hole
  22. bound — certain
  23. fall — the season
  24. pit — in a race

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