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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. band — a music group
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. capital — a city
  5. stand — to bear
  6. stand — on your feet
  7. rule — government
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. tube — the underground
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. band — a ring
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wound — an injury
  16. capital — money
  17. tube — a container
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. rule — a law
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. perch — the fish

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