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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. clip — to cut
  9. stem — to come from
  10. band — a ring
  11. capital — money
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. clip — a video
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. band — a music group
  16. clip — for paper
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. patient — a sick person

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