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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: cap · band · spring · cell · chest · capital · can · game

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. spring — a coil
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. capital — a city
  5. band — a ring
  6. cap — of ice
  7. can — a tin
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. spring — the season
  10. chest — of your body
  11. can — to be able to
  12. spring — of water
  13. chest — a box
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. game — wild animals
  16. capital — money
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. cap — a hat
  19. cap — a lid
  20. cell — a phone
  21. game — a match
  22. chest — of your body
  23. can — a tin
  24. band — a music group

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