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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: kid · mate · mine · capital · trunk · current · band · foot

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. mate — a partner
  3. band — a ring
  4. mate — a friend
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. kid — child
  7. foot — a measure
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. current — happening now
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. capital — a city
  12. mate — to breed
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. current — of water
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. capital — money
  20. mine — for digging
  21. current — electric
  22. kid — to tease
  23. band — a music group
  24. foot — the bottom

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