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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: date · cold · cue · branch · trunk · capital · band · lash

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. cue — for pool
  7. branch — a division
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. band — a ring
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. capital — money
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. band — a music group
  16. capital — a city
  17. date — the fruit
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. cold — not warm
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. cue — a hint
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. cue — a signal

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