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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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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: band · bear · cap · hand · wind · present · capital · fine

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. present — there
  3. present — the time now
  4. hand — in cards
  5. band — a ring
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. bear — the animal
  8. cap — of ice
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. capital — a city
  11. hand — help
  12. band — a music group
  13. wind — moving air
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. fine — high quality
  16. bear — the animal
  17. wind — moving air
  18. cap — a lid
  19. fine — all right
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. present — a gift
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. cap — a hat

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