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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: lie · staff · bulb · swing · spring · band · capital · bound

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. band — a music group
  3. capital — a city
  4. staff — employees
  5. spring — the season
  6. swing — in golf
  7. bulb — for light
  8. staff — a stick
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. spring — a coil
  11. spring — of water
  12. lie — to recline
  13. staff — employees
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. capital — money
  16. bound — tied together
  17. bound — certain
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. swing — to play on
  22. bound — obliged
  23. bulb — for light
  24. swing — music

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