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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. bound — obliged
  6. file — a line of people
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. capital — a city
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. bound — tied together
  12. bound — certain
  13. file — a document
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. mark — a trace
  17. file — a tool
  18. band — a ring
  19. cold — not warm
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. capital — money
  22. cold — an illness
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. mark — a grade

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