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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: wind · band · drill · rush · mark · rule · capital · swing

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. band — a ring
  3. rule — government
  4. rule — a law
  5. drill — a practice
  6. wind — moving air
  7. capital — a city
  8. drill — the tool
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. wind — moving air
  12. swing — to play on
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. capital — money
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. band — a music group
  17. mark — a trace
  18. swing — in golf
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. drill — army training
  21. rush — hurry
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. mark — a grade
  24. swing — music

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