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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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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: capital · band · land · arm · snap · root · bound · kid

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. kid — to tease
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. band — a ring
  6. capital — money
  7. root — the cause
  8. land — to come down
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. root — of a plant
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. band — a music group
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. land — a country
  15. root — of a word
  16. bound — tied together
  17. bound — obliged
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. capital — a city
  21. bound — certain
  22. snap — to click
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. kid — child

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