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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 120 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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. cap — a lid
  3. mark — a trace
  4. cap — a hat
  5. capital — a city
  6. file — a document
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. content — the amount
  12. band — a ring
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. content — happy
  15. capital — money
  16. bat — the animal
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. cap — of ice
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. mark — a grade
  22. file — a tool
  23. file — a line of people
  24. bat — in an idiom

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