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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: band · fan · rock · cabinet · stick · mate · cold · capital

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. rock — music
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. capital — money
  8. cold — not warm
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. band — a ring
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. band — a music group
  13. mate — a partner
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. mate — to breed
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. rock — a stone
  24. mate — a friend

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