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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: ruler · tear · perch · band · wind · capital · tube · kick

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. wind — moving air
  3. capital — a city
  4. tear — from crying
  5. tear — from crying
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. capital — money
  8. band — a music group
  9. band — a ring
  10. tear — to rip
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. kick — in football
  14. wind — moving air
  15. ruler — a monarch
  16. tube — the underground
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. tube — a container
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. wind — to turn a key

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