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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. wound — an injury
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. press — to push
  9. wound — an injury
  10. band — a ring
  11. bound — tied together
  12. snap — to click
  13. capital — money
  14. capital — a city
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. bound — obliged
  17. press — a publisher
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. bound — certain
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. press — newspapers
  23. rash — a series
  24. rash — hasty

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