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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. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. capital — a city
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. band — a music group
  8. field — for sport
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. band — a ring
  11. lean — thin
  12. mark — a trace
  13. pound — a weight
  14. lean — to bend
  15. mark — a grade
  16. capital — money
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. field — farmland
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. field — a subject
  23. cell — in biology
  24. cell — a phone

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