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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: roll · board · band · capital · present · tear · land · dip

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. roll — a cake
  6. board — a committee
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. band — a music group
  9. tear — to rip
  10. roll — a list
  11. capital — a city
  12. land — a country
  13. dip — to sink
  14. present — there
  15. capital — money
  16. present — a gift
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. band — a ring
  19. tear — from crying
  20. land — to come down
  21. present — the time now
  22. tear — from crying
  23. board — to get on
  24. dip — a sauce

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