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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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. bank — for money
  4. capital — money
  5. ball — a great time
  6. bank — of a river
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. can — a tin
  9. band — a ring
  10. march — the month
  11. march — music
  12. can — a tin
  13. bass — the fish
  14. band — a music group
  15. cold — an illness
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. cold — not warm
  18. can — to be able to
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. ball — a dance
  22. bank — for money
  23. bass — low music
  24. march — the month

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