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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: mine · pitcher · present · calf · capital · clip · season · band

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. season — in sport
  4. clip — for paper
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. present — the time now
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. season — of the year
  13. capital — a city
  14. capital — money
  15. band — a music group
  16. clip — a video
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. present — there
  19. clip — to cut
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. mine — for digging
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. present — a gift

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