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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.

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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: row · coach · pound · cabinet · band · capital · dip · clip

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. clip — a video
  3. clip — for paper
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. capital — a city
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. pound — a weight
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. row — to paddle
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. band — a ring
  12. capital — money
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. band — a music group
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. dip — to sink
  21. row — a line
  22. clip — to cut
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. cabinet — ministers

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