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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 120 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: band · spring · pitch · ruler · capital · rash · snap · temple

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. snap — to click
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. rash — a series
  7. spring — a coil
  8. capital — a city
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. spring — the season
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. capital — money
  16. rash — hasty
  17. band — a music group
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. pitch — completely
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. spring — of water

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