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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. capital — a city
  3. chair — a leader
  4. dip — to sink
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. last — to go on
  7. rock — music
  8. last — finally
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. capital — money
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. snap — to click
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. file — a line of people
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. band — a ring
  18. band — a music group
  19. rock — a stone
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. file — a document
  22. file — a tool
  23. last — final
  24. dip — to dunk

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