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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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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: mark · capital · band · mine · bear · wind · mate · bat

  1. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. bat — the animal
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. bear — the animal
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. bear — the animal
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. mate — a partner
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. mine — for digging
  15. mark — a trace
  16. band — a ring
  17. wind — moving air
  18. capital — a city
  19. mark — a grade
  20. band — a music group
  21. capital — money
  22. mate — a friend
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. capital — a big letter

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