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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 116 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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. object — an aim
  4. band — a music group
  5. staff — employees
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. bound — certain
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. tear — from crying
  10. capital — money
  11. snap — to click
  12. bound — obliged
  13. staff — employees
  14. staff — a stick
  15. object — a thing
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. tear — to rip
  18. squash — the sport
  19. bound — tied together
  20. object — to protest
  21. capital — a city
  22. tear — from crying
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. squash — to crush

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