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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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. mine — for digging
  4. capital — a city
  5. capital — money
  6. tube — a container
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. clip — to cut
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. band — a ring
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. clip — a video
  16. band — a music group
  17. last — final
  18. tube — the underground
  19. craft — boats
  20. last — to go on
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. clip — for paper
  23. craft — a skill
  24. last — finally

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