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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
468
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: capital · lie · band · prune · march · bound · snap · land

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. land — to come down
  6. lie — to recline
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. land — ground
  9. band — a music group
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. snap — to click
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. capital — a city
  14. prune — to trim
  15. march — the month
  16. bound — tied together
  17. band — a ring
  18. bound — obliged
  19. land — a country
  20. march — the month
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. bound — certain
  23. march — music
  24. capital — money

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