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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 120 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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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: arm · mine · ruler · band · capital · land · stem · press

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. capital — a city
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. press — newspapers
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. band — a ring
  12. press — a publisher
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. stem — to come from
  15. mine — for digging
  16. land — to come down
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. capital — money
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. land — ground
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. press — to push
  24. band — a music group

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