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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 116 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: drill · capital · game · prune · lean · spell · cap · band

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. prune — to trim
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. band — a ring
  5. capital — money
  6. drill — the tool
  7. spell — letters
  8. drill — a practice
  9. spell — magic
  10. prune — to trim
  11. drill — army training
  12. band — a music group
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. cap — of ice
  15. cap — a hat
  16. game — wild animals
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. lean — to bend
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. capital — a city
  21. spell — a short time
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. game — a match
  24. cap — a lid

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