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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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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: bowl · straw · capital · field · chest · band · bear · rock

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. chest — of your body
  4. field — farmland
  5. bear — the animal
  6. rock — a stone
  7. field — a subject
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. chest — a box
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. capital — a city
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. field — for sport
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. bear — the animal
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. band — a ring
  19. chest — of your body
  20. capital — money
  21. band — a music group
  22. rock — music
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. bear — to put up with

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