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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 · rock · race · lean · chest · scale · capital · prune

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. capital — a city
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chest — of your body
  5. band — a music group
  6. scale — in music
  7. lean — to bend
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. scale — size or range
  10. capital — money
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. rock — music
  13. race — humankind
  14. race — the arms race
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. prune — to trim
  20. chest — a box
  21. race — a contest
  22. rock — a stone
  23. prune — to trim
  24. band — a ring

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