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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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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: deal · safe · wind · mine · stem · capital · wound · band

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. stem — to come from
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. safe — a strongbox
  8. capital — a city
  9. band — a music group
  10. wind — moving air
  11. mine — for digging
  12. band — a ring
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. deal — to handle
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — an injury
  19. capital — money
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. band — a rubber band

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