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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: cap · season · date · branch · shower · band · cell · capital

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. cell — a phone
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. date — the fruit
  7. cap — a lid
  8. capital — money
  9. branch — a division
  10. shower — to wash
  11. cell — in biology
  12. season — of the year
  13. capital — a city
  14. season — in sport
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. band — a music group
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. shower — rain
  19. cap — of ice
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. band — a ring
  23. cap — a hat
  24. date — on the calendar

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