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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: roll · capital · chest · jam · band · mug · cell · mine

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  19. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. jam — in traffic
  3. band — a ring
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. mug — a face
  6. capital — money
  7. mine — for digging
  8. mug — to rob
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. chest — of your body
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. chest — a box
  14. chest — of your body
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. capital — a city
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. jam — a tight spot
  19. mug — a cup
  20. roll — a cake
  21. cell — in biology
  22. roll — a list
  23. band — a music group
  24. band — a rubber band

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