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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 120 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: mine · file · wake · game · fine · capital · band · present

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. fine — all right
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. file — a line of people
  5. fine — high quality
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. wake — a trail
  8. game — a match
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. capital — money
  11. capital — a city
  12. file — a tool
  13. present — there
  14. band — a music group
  15. present — the time now
  16. file — a document
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. band — a ring
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. mine — for digging
  22. game — wild animals
  23. present — a gift
  24. game — a kind of play

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