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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: rest · capital · present · pass · mine · wound · hand · cell

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. wound — an injury
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. rest — a break
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. capital — money
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. hand — help
  10. rest — what's left
  11. present — there
  12. pass — to succeed
  13. present — a gift
  14. cell — in biology
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. cell — a phone
  18. wound — an injury
  19. present — the time now
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. pass — a permit
  22. hand — in cards
  23. rest — what's left
  24. mine — for digging

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