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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. spring — the season
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. march — the month
  6. spring — of water
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. band — a music group
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. press — a publisher
  11. march — music
  12. press — newspapers
  13. wound — an injury
  14. march — the month
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. wound — an injury
  18. capital — a city
  19. press — to push
  20. pass — a permit
  21. pass — to succeed
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. capital — money
  24. spring — a coil

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