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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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Word bank
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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: scale · capital · band · clip · rule · pound

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. rule — government
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. pound — a weight
  6. clip — for paper
  7. scale — size or range
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. rule — a law
  10. capital — a city
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. band — a music group
  13. scale — in music
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. clip — a video
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. capital — money
  18. clip — to cut

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