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

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. current — electric
  5. chest — of your body
  6. current — of water
  7. cue — a hint
  8. chest — a box
  9. capital — money
  10. cue — a signal
  11. fall — to drop
  12. cap — a hat
  13. chest — of your body
  14. cap — a lid
  15. content — happy
  16. current — happening now
  17. fall — to drop
  18. cue — for pool
  19. fall — the season
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. capital — a city
  22. cap — of ice
  23. content — the amount
  24. band — a music group

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