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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 116 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: lean · cell · wound · capital · bulb · wake · present · band

  1. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. present — there
  3. capital — a city
  4. band — a music group
  5. cell — a phone
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. wake — a trail
  8. wound — an injury
  9. lean — thin
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. capital — money
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. present — a gift
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. present — the time now
  17. lean — to bend
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. band — a ring
  20. wound — an injury
  21. bulb — for light
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. cell — in biology
  24. bulb — for light

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