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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: kick · stick · file · cold · capital · band

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. stick — to attach or keep to
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. capital — money
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. band — a ring
  9. capital — a city
  10. file — a document
  11. kick — in football
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. file — a tool
  14. cold — not warm
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. file — a line of people
  17. band — a music group
  18. stick — a piece of wood

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