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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: mine · bank · rush · capital · rule · march · wound · rash

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. wound — an injury
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. wound — an injury
  5. march — the month
  6. rule — a law
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. rash — a series
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. bank — for money
  11. rash — hasty
  12. capital — money
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. rule — government
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. march — the month
  18. rush — hurry
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. mine — for digging
  21. march — music
  22. bank — of a river
  23. bank — for money
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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