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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: bear · present · chest · wind · band · bass · capital · lean

  1. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. lean — to bend
  6. wind — moving air
  7. present — the time now
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chest — of your body
  10. band — a music group
  11. bear — the animal
  12. lean — thin
  13. present — a gift
  14. wind — moving air
  15. capital — money
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. band — a ring
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. bass — the fish
  21. bass — low music
  22. capital — a city
  23. present — there
  24. chest — a box

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