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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: capital · present · file · firm · band · bank

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. firm — a company
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. file — a document
  5. bank — for money
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. capital — money
  8. band — a ring
  9. firm — decided
  10. present — there
  11. present — the time now
  12. present — a gift
  13. firm — steady
  14. bank — of a river
  15. band — a music group
  16. file — a tool
  17. bank — for money
  18. file — a line of people

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