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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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. prune — to trim
  3. current — happening now
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. prune — to trim
  6. current — electric
  7. track — a path
  8. press — a publisher
  9. clip — to cut
  10. clip — for paper
  11. capital — money
  12. ball — a dance
  13. clip — a video
  14. ball — a great time
  15. track — a song
  16. capital — a city
  17. current — of water
  18. press — to push
  19. band — a ring
  20. band — a music group
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. track — to keep track
  24. press — newspapers

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