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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 116 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: land · hand · band · cabinet · chair · capital · ball · ground

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. ground — crushed
  5. ball — a dance
  6. land — a country
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. hand — help
  10. hand — in cards
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. land — to come down
  14. capital — a city
  15. capital — money
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. band — a ring
  18. ground — a position
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. land — ground
  21. chair — a leader
  22. ball — a great time
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. ground — the earth

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