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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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468
Word bank
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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. chest — a box
  3. capital — a city
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. clip — for paper
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. band — a music group
  8. band — a ring
  9. vault — a safe
  10. chest — of your body
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. snap — to click
  14. clip — a video
  15. root — the cause
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. capital — money
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. chest — of your body
  20. root — of a plant
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. root — of a word
  24. clip — to cut

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