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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 · cold · last · craft · tear · capital · track · fan

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. track — a song
  4. tear — from crying
  5. craft — boats
  6. tear — from crying
  7. track — to keep track
  8. track — a path
  9. cold — not warm
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. band — a ring
  12. last — final
  13. cold — an illness
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. last — finally
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. band — a music group
  18. last — to go on
  19. tear — to rip
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. craft — a skill
  22. capital — a city
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. capital — money

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