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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. land — ground
  4. stand — to bear
  5. mine — for digging
  6. ball — a great time
  7. band — a music group
  8. land — a country
  9. land — to come down
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. band — a ring
  12. ball — a dance
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. pitch — completely
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. capital — money

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