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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 116 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: ball · kid · bass · capital · fan · track · band · press

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. ball — a great time
  3. kid — to tease
  4. bass — low music
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. band — a ring
  7. bass — the fish
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. track — to keep track
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. band — a music group
  15. press — to push
  16. track — a path
  17. press — newspapers
  18. track — a song
  19. kid — child
  20. ball — a dance
  21. press — a publisher
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. capital — a city
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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