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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: band · kid · wave · patient · last · tube · key · capital

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. tube — the underground
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. band — a ring
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. kid — child
  7. kid — to tease
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. last — to go on
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. band — a music group
  13. key — the most important part
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. key — in music
  16. capital — money
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. last — finally
  19. last — final
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. key — for a lock
  24. capital — a city

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